A partnership between Great Ormond Street Hospital (Gosh) and Superhope brought six children undergoing treatment for haematology and oncology conditions together with a comic book artist, videographers, photographers and a costume designer to make them into their superhero alter-egos.
The project is the brainchild of Dubai initiative Superhope, which has been running similar schemes across the GCC, US and UK since 2014. It partnered with Gosh's International and Private Patients Service to boost the spirits of some of the 1,500 children who travel to the London hospital from the Middle East for specialist treatment every year.
The process began in May, by asking the children, one of whom is from the Emirates, how they would imagine themselves as a superhero. Powers such as the ability to make people laugh, bloom flowers and shoot ice were thought up by the children. Comic book artist Amrit Birdi set to work turning the imagination into reality.
Together these children became a force to rival TV stars. The first members of the GOSHxSuperhope League includes characters called AJ-Force, DarkGadget, SaMagic, ButterFly, Flowergirl and ReFroze. Each of them possesses unique characteristics of their own design.
As well as being an engaging and fun experience for the children, Claudia Tomlin, one of Gosh's matrons, says it also boosted their self confidence.
“Some of these children have been in the hospital or having treatment for a significant amount of time and for them to be able to find that kind of release, is really worthwhile,” she said.
“A lot of the families involved said it gave them a well-needed lift in the midst of some quite intense treatments"
Gosh and Superhope have created a short film featuring the children’s superheroes, which was shown to their families and hospital staff on Monday. On Tuesday, the videos were released online for the world to enjoy.
Those involved in the process said it was a gratifying one. Jo De Santis, from Atelier Spatz, who made all the individual costumes by hand in under five weeks, was stunned at the difference her creations and the process made to the children’s confidence.
“When we gave them the costumes and they slipped into that role and stepped in front of the camera, they adopted totally different personas,” she said.
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“Some of them were so shy when we first met them and they really came out of their shell, posing ... they loved it. It was a transformation."
Ms Tomlin agrees.
“One of them didn't take [the costume] off for about three weeks. She came to every outpatient appointment in her costume. She really became her alter ego,” she said.
Speaking about what the experience meant for GCC patient Latifa (also known as ButterFly), her grandmother, who wished not to be named, said, “the Superhope initiative has had a very positive effect on Latifa and our whole family. Latifa needs something to encourage her and this initiative made her, and our family, so happy. She became a butterfly queen, very beautiful!”
Following the success of the project, Great Ormond Street and Superhope is considering rolling out the service to children across the hospital.
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2011 - 42
2012 - MC
2013 - 23
2014 - MC
2015 - MC
2016 - 3
2017 - 8
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
