MIAMI, FLorida // The defensive effort was closer to Miami Heat standards.
LeBron James – with Neymar in the building to spectate – made it difficult to notice anything but offence.
James scored 33 points on 13 for 21 shooting – with an array of post-up moves getting him going early, then a barrage of 3-pointers fueling a big third-quarter push – and the Heat encountered little trouble on the way to a 118-95 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.
James scored 17 points in the third quarter, his best 12-minute stretch of the season so far and an indicator that a balky back that slowed him in the season’s first couple weeks is improving.
“It’s getting better,” James said. “It feels a lot better. Still a little sore ... getting a lot of work put on it so I can get to 100 percent. But it’s getting better every day and that’s a good thing.”
Michael Beasley scored 19 points and Mario Chalmers finished with 15 points and seven assists for the Heat, whose biggest victory margin before Tuesday was a 12-point triumph over Chicago on opening night. Chris Bosh scored 10 for Miami (5-3).
Miami played without Udonis Haslem (back) and Ray Allen (ill). Shane Battier started in Haslem’s place.
“It wasn’t perfect,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, whose team was coming off a final-second loss to Boston on Saturday. “There were still some areas we definitely need to improve on, in terms of the details and discipline. But at least the effort, the activity was better, the disposition right from the beginning and it carried through once we got into the rotation. Guys were much more focused and bringing that competitive spirit.”
John Henson and Gary Neal each scored 18 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 11 for Milwaukee – all three of them putting up those points off the Bucks’ bench. Caron Butler was the only double-digit-scoring starter for the Bucks (2-4), finishing with 10.
“They shot almost 60 percent today so there’s no way we can win a game like that,” Henson said. “We just have to get better.”
The Heat have scored at least 100 points in each of their eight games so far, extending the team’s franchise-record for such a start, but what carried much more significance in the collective eyes of the two-time defending NBA champions were the defensive numbers.
Milwaukee shot only 35 percent in the first three quarters, before scoring 33 points against an array of what largely was Heat second- and third-teamers in the final 12 minutes.
“It’s been a long 48 hours in this building, but at least we were able to respond with a better game,” Spoelstra said. “And I think our guys felt better looking each other in the eye in the locker room tonight.”
James gave the Heat a shot of adrenalin late in the half, when he and Chalmers teamed up for yet another entry on Miami’s alley-oop highlight reel. Dwyane Wade grabbed a deflected ball and got it to Chalmers, who drove down the lane against Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton – then simply lofted the ball straight up, knowing James was trailing the play.
The result was predictable. James soared past Middleton for the dunk, the Heat took a 56-45 lead into the half, and the league’s four-time MVP then took over in the third quarter.
“Best player in the world,” the Bucks’ OJ Mayo said.
James 17, Bucks 17 – that was the score in the third quarter, after the Heat star made 6 of 9 shots in the period, including four 3-pointers. He also drove for one particularly emphatic slam, and the 84-62 lead that Miami carried into the fourth ensured he would get the rest of the night off after logging only 30 minutes.
“There were moments were I was very disappointed particularly when people were driving to the basket and we’re moving out of their way,” Bucks coach Larry Drew said. “I will not tolerate that. That will not be accepted, I don’t care who it is. If they’re going to the basket, we’ve got to challenge, we’ve got to foul then and make them earn it from the free-throw line. We can’t be moving out of people’s way.”
OTHER TUESDAY RESULTS
Warriors 113, Pistons 95
Andre Iguodala had five of Golden State’s 13 assists in a near-perfect first quarter as the Warriors built a 19-point lead en route to a dominant victory over the Detroit Pistons.
Guard Stephen Curry poured in 25 points in 29 minutes, and center David Lee contributed 17 points and nine rebounds, helping propel the Warriors (5-3) to their third consecutive one-sided home win of the young season.
Iguodala had eight points to go with a season best-tying 11 assists.
Guard Klay Thompson added 14 points, and center Jermaine O’Neal recorded 17, his best total as a Warrior.
Lakers 116, Pelicans 95
Los Angeles power forward Jordan Hill scored a career-best 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, sparking the Lakers to a victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni said before the game Hill would start because of his energy. Hill used his frequent bursts of activity and boosted the Lakers on a second-quarter spurt that allowed them to take a double-digit lead and cruise.
The Lakers (4-5) snapped a two-game losing streak and avenged last Friday’s setback to the Pelicans (3-5), who lost their second in a row.
Guard Nick Young scored 17 points and guard Xavier Henry added 15.
Mavericks 105, Wizards 95
Forward Dirk Nowitzki scored 19 points to pass Jerry West on the NBA’s all-time scoring list while pushing his Dallas Mavericks to a victory over the Washington Wizards.
Dallas (5-3) overcame an early nine-point deficit and controlled the game throughout the final three quarters.
Vince Carter scored 16 points and center Samuel Dalembert scored 13 of his season-high 15 points in the first half.
Nowitzki passed West (25,192 points in 932 games) for 16th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list late in the third quarter after draining two 3-pointers.
Nowitzki will soon be bearing down on Indiana Pacers great Reggie Miller (25,279) for 15th place.
Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
Cherry
Directed by: Joe and Anthony Russo
Starring: Tom Holland, Ciara Bravo
1/5
Western Region Asia Cup Qualifier
Results
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by 12 runs
Kuwait beat Iran by eight wickets
Oman beat Maldives by 10 wickets
Bahrain beat Qatar by six wickets
Semi-finals
UAE v Qatar
Bahrain v Kuwait
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.”
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
About Okadoc
Date started: Okadoc, 2018
Founder/CEO: Fodhil Benturquia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Healthcare
Size: (employees/revenue) 40 staff; undisclosed revenues recording “double-digit” monthly growth
Funding stage: Series B fundraising round to conclude in February
Investors: Undisclosed
The biog
First Job: Abu Dhabi Department of Petroleum in 1974
Current role: Chairperson of Al Maskari Holding since 2008
Career high: Regularly cited on Forbes list of 100 most powerful Arab Businesswomen
Achievement: Helped establish Al Maskari Medical Centre in 1969 in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region
Future plan: Will now concentrate on her charitable work
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
In numbers
1,000 tonnes of waste collected daily:
- 800 tonnes converted into alternative fuel
- 150 tonnes to landfill
- 50 tonnes sold as scrap metal
800 tonnes of RDF replaces 500 tonnes of coal
Two conveyor lines treat more than 350,000 tonnes of waste per year
25 staff on site
How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
England World Cup squad
Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wkt), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
TICKETS
Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
UAE SQUAD
Ahmed Raza (Captain), Rohan Mustafa, Jonathan Figy, CP Rizwan, Junaid Siddique, Mohammad Usman, Basil Hameed, Zawar Farid, Vriitya Aravind (WK), Waheed Ahmed, Karthik Meiyappan, Zahoor Khan, Darius D'Silva, Chirag Suri
Brief scores:
Toss: Kerala Knights, opted to fielf
Pakhtoons 109-5 (10 ov)
Fletcher 32; Lamichhane 3-17
Kerala Knights 110-2 (7.5 ov)
Morgan 46 not out, Stirling 40
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yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
info-box
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Happy Tenant
Started: January 2019
Co-founders: Joe Moufarrej and Umar Rana
Based: Dubai
Sector: Technology, real-estate
Initial investment: Dh2.5 million
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 4,000
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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