From left, Duke Weselton, Anna and Elsa the Snow Queen in a scene from Frozen. Disney / AP Photo
From left, Duke Weselton, Anna and Elsa the Snow Queen in a scene from Frozen. Disney / AP Photo

Film

Holly to Bolly: Anna and Elsa of Frozen to join ABC’s Once Upon a Time

Characters from the Disney animated film Frozen will join the cast of Once Upon a Time, an ABC television series .

Anna and Elsa of Frozen have arrived in Storybrooke

At Saturday's Once Upon a Time panel at Comic-Con, producers played a clip from the season 4 premiere revealing characters from the Disney movie. In the scene, which picks up after the film, sisters Anna and Elsa (portrayed by Elizabeth Lail and Georgina Haig) put flowers on their parents' graves. Elsa tells Anna she has a surprise planned for her wedding. Frozen characters Kristoff and Prince Hans will also be introduced. ABC's Once Upon a Time returns for its fourth season on September 28. – AP

Akshay sings for Entertainment

After Salman Khan lent his voice for a song in his recently released action comedy Kick, Akshay Kumar has sung one track in his forthcoming film Entertainment. The actor uploaded a YouTube clip of the making of the song on Twitter on Saturday. "And here's a brand new track from #Entertainment sung by yours truly :) Enjoy," he tweeted. Entertainment is directed by the debutant duo Farhad-Sajid. The film also features Tamannaah Bhatia and is due out in the UAE on August 7. – IANS

Ant-Man cast revealed

Paul Rudd was previously revealed as the tiny title superhero in Ant-Man at Marvel's Comic-Con panel Saturday in San Diego, and now Evangeline Lilly has confirmed she'll play Hope Pym. Michael Douglas plays her dad, Dr Hank Pym and Corey Stoll is set to play the villain Darren Cross, also known as Yellowjacket. Rudd called the role "a mind-bender". Douglas said he'd long looked at Marvel films "from afar with tremendous envy" and was excited to join the comic-based world. Director Peyton Reed, who took over for Edgar Wright after he left over creative issues, has been coming to Comic-Con for 20 years and been an Ant-Man fan for even longer. Marvel chief Kevin Feige said production on the film, due in theatres next year, is set to begin in two weeks – AP

Guru Dutt’s son dies at 58

Arun Dutt, the son of the veteran filmmaker Guru Dutt, has died in Pune, a family member said yesterday. He was 58. Arun Dutt’s daughter, Gouri Dutt, said he died on Saturday afternoon. “My father passed away yesterday afternoon in Pune. He was suffering from multiple complications, but the major reason was kidney failure. His funeral took place in Pune,” Gouri Dutt said in a statement to Indian news agencies. – IANS

Abhishek Bachchan keen on Yuvraj Singh biopic

Abhishek Bachchan would love to do a film on the Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh, whose career graph and fighting spirit as a cancer survivor could make for an inspirational tale, the actor said. The 38-year-old, who is the son of the veteran Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan, made his comments at a press conference in Mumbai to introduce his Kabaddi team, Jaipur Pink Panthers, a franchise of the Pro Kabaddi League. “I would love to do Yuvraj Singh’s biopic,” Bachchan said. “I think Yuvraj has had a fantastic life. He is a warrior.” – IANS

COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EQureos%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2021%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E33%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESoftware%20and%20technology%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%243%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
UAE tour of the Netherlands

UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures:
Monday, 1st 50-over match
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match

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.”