Al Ahli 2-1 Al Jazira
Ahli: Khamis 76', Ribeiro 85'
Jazira: Mabkhout (pen) 68'
Sent off: Khamis Esmail (Ahli)
STORY OF THE MATCH
DUBAI // Al Ahli snatched a late victory against Al Jazira on Saturday night to suggest there remains life yet in the Arabian Gulf League title race.
The UAE champions had Everton Ribeiro to thank at a poorly attended Rashid Stadium, the livewire Brazilian sweeping home the ball after substitute Asamoah Gyan had miscued his shot. There were only five minutes remaining.
Now, there are only six rounds of the season remaining, Jazira’s lead at top of the table chipped down to six points. The Abu Dhabi club are chasing down what would be only a second UAE championship, but they have the seven-time winners drawing ever closer behind them in second. As the campaign enters crunch time, Ahli are putting the squeeze on.
For a while in the second half, it appeared Jazira were set to squash the hopes of the chasing pack. Ali Mabkhout put the visitors 1-0 up on 68 minutes, first failing from the penalty spot once Khamis Esmail had tripped Mohammed Fayez, but the UAE striker gratefully forced the rebound from Majed Naser’s save into the Ahli net. It was Mabkhout’s 24th goal of the season.
Yet Ahli responded like champions do. Eight minutes later, Salmeen Khamis got his head to a loose ball in the Jazira area — Esmail had struck the crossbar with a wicked shot — and the defender bundled it over the line via Makhete Diop’s back. Having drawn level, the hosts flooded forward for the decisive blow.
It eventually came from Ribeiro’s boot, an instinctive reaction following Gyan’s mis-hit. Ahli celebrated wildly, but in the celebrations that came after, Esmail was spotted shoving an opponent. The Ahli midfielder was promptly shown a second yellow card.
That mattered little, though, since Cosmin Olaroiu’s men had done enough to take the points. So six points the gap with six rounds remaining? There is life in this title race yet.
MAN OF THE MATCH — Everton Ribeiro
The Ahli playmaker was the game’s most proactive player, and capped a decent performance with the crucial winner.
NATIONAL VERDICT
Jazira looked set to get the point it seemed they had set out to gain, but Ahli displayed commendable resolve to secure a victory. It was not their greatest match, yet the defending champions will not care: they have to attack the final few months of the season with similar vigour.
jmcauley@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.”
