When Jordan Belfort, played by Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street, yells rabid encouragement to a roomful of amoral, pumped-up stockbrokers, his clothing is as eloquent as his words.
From the badly cut, big-shouldered suit he wears as a green junior to the expensively tailored Prussian blue suit in which he announces his departure from his company, with plenty of pinstripes and loud ties in between, the film’s costumes tell a story of increasing wealth and success – but a complete absence of trustworthiness.
Yet those who truly embrace the power in power-dressing can find it affects their career, their image and their self-perception.
So what is power-dressing today? Certainly those shoulder pads are decades behind us, and pinstripes have declined as well, according to the Savile Row tailor Richard James and his business partner Sean Dixon, even though they saw an increase in bespoke orders following the financial crisis of 2008.
“We found that people stopped buying pinstriped suits completely, because it made them think of bankers and the City,” says Mr James. “People were buying plain suits or Prince of Wales checks instead. It’s coming back in now.”
“Although actually, it’s being bought by people that aren’t in the financial industries,” adds Mr Dixon.
Bankers clearly aren’t ready to be too conspicuous yet.
Zachary Cefaratti, 26, an American risk officer at Dalma Capital Management in Dubai International Financial Centre, certainly believes that less is more when it comes to visible wealth – particularly that classic indicator of success: the timepiece.
“I feel that if you’re going to wear an expensive watch, you really don’t want most people to know the difference or you’ll find yourself being overcharged everywhere and attracting attention for the wrong reasons,” he argues. “The few people who can spot a vintage Patek Philippe are more likely to be the ones you actually want to impress.”
And it has been proven that those tiny, subtle details make a material difference in perceptions, according to the psychologist Ben Fletcher, professor of occupational and health psychology at the UK’s University of Hertfordshire.
He recently co-authored research on the first impressions that clothing can create, in which images of a man wearing either a bespoke suit and an off-the-peg suit, differing in minor details, were rated on confidence, success, trustworthiness, salary and flexibility. The man was rated more positively on all attributes apart from trustworthiness when pictured in the bespoke suit.
“Clothes give away much more than people think,” says Prof Fletcher. “My research shows that minor things in clothing can create good impressions – clothes that fit well, an extra bespoke detail here and there, or that bit of thought about coordination can make all the difference.”
For financiers this presents a real dilemma. “The [pinstripe] uniform signifies an occupation that is not well regarded at the moment, and the better the suit looks the more negative that impression,” adds Prof Fletcher. “And what is worse, the bankers themselves will take on the negative connotations of the uniform they wear in the way they feel and think.”
All this will come as no surprise to Mr Cefaratti, a Dubai resident for the past year, who takes his image very seriously. He has developed a style code by which to judge the characters of other financiers.
“In finance and banking, I feel there are two types of fashion: Stocks and Bonds,” he posits. “Stocks are more aggressive and louder, but more volatile and many of them crash and burn. Bonds are safer, steadier and more low-key – they represent a greater portion of the ‘capital structure’ of business attire, but don’t yield exciting results. Accessories bring everything together. The ‘Bonds’ tend to stick to buttoned cuffs, the ‘Stocks’ go for links.”
None of this is to put personal style aside – indeed, flair can make you memorable for the right reasons, and your choice of tailor, shirtmaker and shoemaker can be both influential and telling. In spite of his preference for Italian styling, Mr Cefaratti swears by Ascots & Chapels, a London-based tailor with several UAE stores.
However traditional the tailor, though, indulging personal style can mean walking a tightrope in business attire: good-natured sartorial rivalry on one side, flashy and tacky on the other.
“At least as a rich man, when I have to face my problems I show up in the back of a limo wearing a $2,000 suit and $40,000 gold watch,” yells the crooked Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street, but Mr Cefaratti’s having none of it.
“The characters in The Wolf of Wall Street are the epitome of what to avoid,” he laments. “The gaudy penny stocks with broad pinstripes, gold watches and a complete lack of refinement or sophistication.”
business@thenational.ae
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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.”
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
