The Killing: from the small screen to the page

It was, says the author David Hewson, "a massive undertaking". Last year, the best-selling crime writer was approached to turn one of the most talked-about television series of recent times into a coherent book. But this was no ordinary "novelisation", common in film and television and often sneered at by the literary establishment as nothing more than a money-grabbing tie-in. His commission was to adapt the Danish television crime drama The Killing – the first series of which is a staggering 20 hours long.

"If I'd done a straight adaptation," he laughs, "we would have been looking at a 700,000-word book." Or, put another way, three times the length of the back-breaking epic by George RR Martin, A Game Of Thrones.

The Killing is still a lengthy read. But Hewson, refreshingly, refused to play by the rules. Early chapters are strikingly similar to the opening episodes of the series, but as the book progresses, the motivations of some of the characters begin to shift in curious ways.

By the end, it's absolutely a Hewson novel rather than a straight adaptation of the Søren Sveistrup drama – to the point where even fans who watched the first series will be shocked at the denouement.

"I was really keen that this worked as a novel," says Hewson. "You have to adapt to the medium in which you're telling the story – after all, books are changed when they're made into movies.

"The main difference is that you can see a character on television but you can't always know exactly what they're thinking. In a book, it's important that you do flesh out your character's motivations, otherwise they're completely one-dimensional.

"All of which meant that when it came to the ending, it felt right to change it somewhat because, I think, the reader would want to know more than the viewer of a television series. It fitted with what I had written up to that point."

It's a refreshing, if surprising, move. For all the column inches written about the brilliantly constructed Danish drama chronicling detective Sarah Lund's investigation into the murder of a teenager, it remained a cult hit rather than a show watched by millions.

Hewson admits that the intention is for the book to capture those people who were nervous of watching a series in subtitles, but are still really keen to see what all the fuss is about. There's the sense that, if approached correctly, The Killing could be the next The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, so there's a lot riding on Hewson's novelisation.

"I met with Søren Sveistrup in Copenhagen, and I admit I was worried about what he might think," he says. "But he wasn't in the least bit concerned. In fact, he said he was looking forward to it, he wanted it to be my book. Which was great of him."

And happily, Hewson is just as generous about Sveistrup's original screenplay, which he prefers to call a series of interlinked human tragedies rather than a straight crime drama.

"I think that's why the people who got into The Killing really took it to their hearts," he says. "Because, actually, it's not about the thrill of a detective chasing a murderer. It's about people, and what extreme circumstances do to their relationships. It would be great if the book underlined just how thoughtful this series is."

The Killing, published by Pan Macmillan, is out now, Dh74

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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.”