DOHA // The Qatar boss Jorge Fossati has warned his side against complacency when they host Bahrain in their second World Cup qualifier at Al Sadd Stadium today. A 3-0 victory over Uzbekistan on Saturday got their Group One campaign off to an ideal start in Doha. Bahrain, by contrast, suffered a 3-2 home defeat to Japan. However, Fossati was guarding against complacency ahead of the clash with their Gulf neighbours. "We should not celebrate our win against Uzbekistan too much because we still have a long way to go," the Uruguayan said.
"Despite the 3-2 defeat against Japan, we must not underestimate Bahrain because they will be looking for a win. Each match we play is separate from the others and our match against Bahrain has become the most important match for us." The midfield pair of Hussain Yasser and Wessam Rizik are back in the fold after missing the victory over Uzbekistan through suspension but Talal Al Bloushi is sidelined after picking up his second yellow card of the competition last time out.
Bahrain will be without the defender Mohamed Hussain after he was sent off in the second-half against Japan and Faouzi Aaish is also ruled out after collecting a second booking against the East Asians. Meanwhile, the Australia coach Pim Verbeek will not alter his gameplan for today's World Cup qualifier in Uzbekistan despite the hosts' desperation to bounce back from Saturday's defeat at the hands of Qatar. The Australians go into the game in confident mood after a 2-1 win in a friendly against Holland at the weekend.
* Agencies
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Five expert hiking tips
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.”