Roman Abramovich has been pushed out of peace talks between Russian and Ukraine, the Kremlin has confirmed.
The Chelsea football club owner was involved in the early stages of efforts to broker a ceasefire.
Shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine, Mr Abramovich’s spokesman said the billionaire was “trying to help” bring an end to the violence.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is said to have believed the tycoon could serve as a useful intermediary between Kyiv and Mr Putin’s inner circle, and put pressure on the Biden administration to refrain from imposing sanctions on him.
However, it was not known how influential Mr Abramovich, 55, would be in any negotiations. His mother, Irina, was born in Ukraine and he has close ties to Mr Putin.
The Russian billionaire was approached by Kyiv officials with a request to act as a go-between, his representative said.
On the fifth day of the war, he travelled to Belarus in an “advocacy role” and was praised by a senior Ukrainian politician for his “very positive” intervention.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, confirmed Mr Abramovich’s role in the early stages of peace talks but said he had been sidelined.
“He did take part at the initial stage,” Mr Peskov said. “[But] now the negotiations are between the two teams, the Russians and Ukrainians.”
More than a month into the conflict, efforts are still continuing to reach a peace settlement as the death toll mounts and western nations ratchet up sanctions against Russia.
Dmitry Medvedev, former president of Russia and deputy head of the Security Council, said it is “foolish” to believe sanctions against businesses in the country could have any effect on the Kremlin.
The sanctions will only bring together Russians and not result in popular discontent with the authorities, Mr Medvedev told Russia's RIA news agency in an interview on Friday.
The West has imposed an array of sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, but the Kremlin says it will continue the assault until it accomplishes its goals of Ukraine's “demilitarisation and denazification".
Some of the sanctions have been aimed at billionaire businessmen believed to be close to Mr Putin.
“Let us ask ourselves: can any of these major businessmen have even the tiniest quantum of influence of the position of the country's leadership?” Mr Medvedev said. “I openly tell you: no, no way.”
He claimed opinion polls showed three quarters of Russians supported the Kremlin's decision to send troops into Ukraine and even more supported Mr Putin.
He lashed out at Russians who spoke against the invasion while staying outside Russia.
“You can be dissatisfied with some of the authorities' decisions, criticise the authorities — this is normal,” he said. “But you cannot take a stand against the state in such a difficult situation, because this is treason.”
Thousands of people were detained earlier this month across Russia during protests against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, according to an independent protest monitoring group.
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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