Hull City's English midfielder Jake Livermore, right, vies for the ball against Brighton and Hove Albion's Irish midfielder Keith Andrews during an English FA Cup fifth round replay football match between Hull City FC and Brighton and Hove Albion FC at the KC Stadium, north-east England on February 24, 2014. AFP PHOTO/LINDSEY PARNABY
Hull City's English midfielder Jake Livermore, right, vies for the ball against Brighton and Hove Albion's Irish midfielder Keith Andrews during an English FA Cup fifth round replay football match betShow more

Hull City and Charlton advance into FA Cup quarter-finals



Hull City booked an FA Cup quarter-final with Premier League rivals Sunderland after seeing off second-tier Brighton 2-1 in a fifth round replay on Monday.

Also through to the last eight were Charlton, who spoilt fellow Championship side Sheffield Wednesday’s dream of a derby with Sheffield United after a 2-1 win at Hillsborough in their fifth round clash.

Curtis Davies’s header and Robert Koren’s deflected free-kick put Hull 2-0 up at the KC Stadium inside 35 minutes but south coast club Brighton, losing FA Cup finalists in 1983, were given hope when Leonardo Ulloa, who scored in the first meeting between the clubs, headed home from close range in the 69th minute.

Hull then survived some nervous moments to set up a meeting with manager Steve Bruce’s former club and prevent Brighton coming face to face with their old boss Gus Poyet, who is now in charge of Sunderland and left his job at the second tier side under acrimonious circumstances last year.

“Particularly playing Sunderland with this gaffer (Bruce), it’s going to be a big game,” Davies told ITV4.

“Obviously Sunderland are going into the (League) Cup final next week (March 2 against Manchester City) as well so they’ll be trying to do well in both cups and stay in the league so it will be an interesting game but hopefully we will come out on top.”

In Sheffield, Callum Harriott opened the scoring for visitors Charlton before Leon Best’s second-half goal drew Wednesday level.

But Wales international Simon Church swung the tie back the way of the south London club by heading in Charlton captain Johnnie Jackson’s second-half free-kick.

However, it took a stunning stoppage-time save from Charlton goalkeeper Ben Hamer, who hurled himself at Chris Maguire’s deflected shot, to prevent Wednesday securing a replay.

It all meant Championship relegation candidates Charlton denied Sheffield football fans a first ‘Steel City’ derby in the FA Cup since Wednesday beat United in a Wembley semi-final in 1993.

FA Cup quarter-final fixtures

Arsenal v Everton

Hull City v Sunderland

Sheffield United v Charlton Athletic

Manchester City v Wigan Athletic

Ties to be played on the weekend of March 8-9

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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.”

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