Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, smiles during a visit to the headquarters of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force's 603 Squadron in Edinburgh, Scotland. Getty
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, smiles during a visit to the headquarters of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force's 603 Squadron in Edinburgh, Scotland. Getty
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, smiles during a visit to the headquarters of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force's 603 Squadron in Edinburgh, Scotland. Getty
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, smiles during a visit to the headquarters of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force's 603 Squadron in Edinburgh, Scotland. Getty

Prince Philip admitted to hospital after feeling unwell


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The Duke of Edinburgh was admitted to hospital after feeling unwell, Buckingham Palace said on Wednesday.

Prince Philip, 99, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, was admitted to the King Edward VII Hospital in London on Tuesday evening.

"The Duke's admission is a precautionary measure, on the advice of His Royal Highness's doctor, after feeling unwell," a spokesman said.

"The Duke is expected to remain in hospital for a few days of observation and rest."

The prince, who celebrates his 100th birthday on 10 June, had felt unwell for a short period and walked from a car into the hospital unaided.

He does not have a Covid-19-related illness.

Last month, the palace announced that Prince Philip and the queen had both received their first Covid-19 vaccination at Windsor Castle.

A No 10 spokesperson said Prime Minister Boris Johnson sends his "best wishes" to the duke as he "undergoes a few days of rest in hospital".

He was last admitted to hospital in December 2019, spending four nights in the King Edward VII Hospital for what the palace said was planned treatment of a pre-existing condition.

In 2011, he was rushed to hospital by helicopter after suffering chest pains and treated for a blocked coronary artery. In 2017, he spent two nights in the King Edward VII hospital and was in hospital for 10 days in 2018 for a hip replacement.

He was forced to give up driving at the age of 97, after crashing into a car while driving a Land Rover near Sandringham estate in England, in January 2019. The Duke needed help to get out of the vehicle but was not injured. A woman in the other vehicle suffered a broken wrist.

He stepped down from official engagements in August 2017 and rarely appears in public.

During England’s current coronavirus lockdown, he is staying at Windsor Castle, west of London, with the Queen.

The royal couple received their Covid-19 inoculations last month.

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

New schools in Dubai

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.”

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Tokenisation refers to the issuance of a blockchain token, which represents a virtually tradable real, tangible asset. A tokenised asset is easily transferable, offers good liquidity, returns and is easily traded on the secondary markets. 

Our legal advisor

Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.

Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation. 

Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.

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NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

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Scorebox

Dubai Sports City Eagles 7 Bahrain 88

Eagles

Try: Penalty

Bahrain

Tries: Gibson 2, Morete 2, Bishop 2, Bell 2, Behan, Fameitau, Sanson, Roberts, Bennett, Radley

Cons: Radley 4, Whittingham 5