This image released by Fox News Channel shows cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski while on assignment with colleagues, Fox News correspondent Steve Harrigan and Jerusalem-based senior producer Yonat Friling in Kyiv. AP
This image released by Fox News Channel shows cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski while on assignment with colleagues, Fox News correspondent Steve Harrigan and Jerusalem-based senior producer Yonat Friling in Kyiv. AP
This image released by Fox News Channel shows cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski while on assignment with colleagues, Fox News correspondent Steve Harrigan and Jerusalem-based senior producer Yonat Friling in Kyiv. AP
This image released by Fox News Channel shows cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski while on assignment with colleagues, Fox News correspondent Steve Harrigan and Jerusalem-based senior producer Yonat Friling i

Fox News cameraman and Ukrainian journalist killed in Kyiv attack


Kyle Fitzgerald
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A Fox News cameraman and a Ukrainian journalist were killed in the same attack outside Kyiv, Ukraine, that injured correspondent Benjamin Hall, network chief executive Suzanne Scott said in a memo to employees.

Pierre Zakrzewski, Oleksandra Kuvshynova and Hall were on a newsgathering assignment in Horenca when their vehicle was hit by incoming fire.

“We are deeply saddened by the deaths of Pierre Zakrzewski and Oleksandra Kuvshynova in Ukraine while they were working with Fox News, and we are hoping that correspondent Benjamin Hall recovers from his injuries,” CPJ Europe and Central Asia programme co-ordinator Gulnoza Said said in a statement.

Kuvshynova's death was also confirmed by the local publication Kyiv Independent and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Zakrzewski had been working in Ukraine since February after covering news in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“His passion and talent as a journalist were unmatched,” Ms Scott said.

“His talents were vast and there wasn't a role that he didn't jump in to help with in the field … and he did it all under immense pressure with tremendous skill.

“Today is a heartbreaking day for Fox News Media and for all journalists risking their lives to deliver the news.”

Fox on-air anchor John Roberts, who reported the news of Hall's injury on Monday, said he had worked with Zakrzewski “many times around the world".

“He was an absolute treasure,” Roberts said.

Hall, Fox News' State Department correspondent, has been in hospital since being injured during Monday's attack.

These are not the first journalist deaths that have occurred during the Ukraine conflict: Brent Renaud, a documentary filmmaker and former New York Times reporter, was shot dead in the Kyiv suburb of Irpin on Sunday. Another journalist was injured in the attack.

Renaud had been travelling in a vehicle with a group of other journalists when the vehicle was attacked by Russian troops.

“Reporting on this war is a vital public service and it has already claimed the lives of at least two other journalists in just a few weeks,” Ms Said added.

“Ukrainian and Russian authorities must do their utmost to ensure safety of all journalists and to thoroughly investigate attacks on the press.”

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.”

The biog

Hometown: Birchgrove, Sydney Australia
Age: 59
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Updated: March 16, 2022, 4:11 AM