Claudio Ranieri likes Decembers. The coach of Inter Milan, or Mister Fixit as he described himself on being appointed to the latest of his many Serie A managerial positions, has an especially good record in the last month of the year, wherever he has worked.
Yesterday's Gazzetta dello Sport helpfully researched it: in 50 December fixtures, Ranieri teams have lost only nine.
Ranieri's Inter renaissance is gathering pace. A 4-1 victory over Lecce two days ago represented the fourth victory in succession for the 2010 champions and their sixth three-point haul in seven outings. They are racing up the table. Barely two weeks ago, Inter were stuck in 16th spot; they are now fifth, six points behind the Champions League zone.
There are shades in this comeback of Ranieri's now-fabled turning around of Roma two seasons ago. Then, as now, he took over a team who had suffered a terrible start to the campaign. By the last day of the season, Roma had a chance of seizing the scudetto.
Talk of winning the 2011/12 league is roundly dismissed by Ranieri, whose team are still eight points behind AC Milan. Thanks to Juventus's 0-0 draw with Udinese, Milan have finished the calendar year at the summit.
Ranieri would have been grateful if a few of the many scoring chances Inter enjoyed against Lecce had been spread over the season so far. They hit the post or crossbar no fewer than four times.
"When you play like that you know the goals are going to come," said Ranieri, who was pleased with the distribution of the goals. Diego Milito, out of form in recent weeks, scored his first league goal since September. Giampaolo Pazzini netted hours after becoming a father and there was a first Serie A strike for Ricky Alvarez, 23, the Argentine recruit.
Alvarez still has a rawness about him. Ranieri said: "He needs more games to get used to Italy." But he is one of several footballers around whom the veteran coach has strived to move Inter, an ageing squad, forward. The recent run of good form has been achieved thanks to a few of them.
The Dutch striker Luc Castaignos, 19, a summer recruit, scored the winning goal at Siena. The Brazilian Coutinho, 19, played a decisive part in the win against Fiorentina. The defender Marco Faraoni, 20, has made a good impression since being given his first Inter start at the beginning of the month. He, too, has had a good December.
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Greatest of All Time
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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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Price, base: Dh69,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
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Monster Hunter: World
Capcom
PlayStation 4, Xbox One
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
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