Seb Williams-Parry said it was “dream come true” after captaining Jumeirah English Speaking School to the Gulf Under 19 Boys title at the Emirates Dubai Sevens.
The Arabian Ranches-based school had never played in a Pitch 1 final in the history of the annual sevens tournament.
Then they did so twice in the space of a little over an hour on Friday evening. First, their female side were runners up to Dubai College in the Gulf U19 Girls final.
Then their boys went one better as they beat Dubai Exiles 19-5 in their cup final.
“I have been at the school since I was in Foundation Stage 1, so it means a lot to me,” said Williams-Parry, who scored the opening try of the final, and later lifted the trophy.
“To do the school proud, with everyone watching on the sidelines, it was a dream come true.
“You would always see the big kids around school, thinking they were like full-grown men, then see them out there on these fields.
“You always wanted to be out on that pitch, then when you are out there, you would think you would be nervous. But you actually feel at home because you have seen it all the time.
“Constantly watching the older kids playing out there and dreaming about it, then when you are out there yourself, it feels like home.”
Even as the sides were lined up side by side in the bowels of the main stand before running out for the match, Williams-Parry said his side felt calm.
“There was a bit of banter between the two teams because we are familiar with each other, but our team was in such a good mental state,” the JESS captain said.
“We thought, ‘This is our time now, and we are going to show them how we play.’ Our main focus was not playing any differently to how we play in training.
“We just wanted to play the way we do, and carry out our gameplan, and that is how we got to where we are.”
On their way to making history for their school, JESS avenged a painful defeat from 12 months earlier. They had lost to Dubai English Speaking College in the semi-final in 2022.
They won when the two sides met at the same stage this time around, and then assumed DESC’s title in the subsequent match.
“It was like déjà vu – we had a really tight game against them in the semi-final last year,” said Josh Elliott, the JESS coach.
“They pipped us. Fair play, they were brilliant and went on to win it, and this year we just pipped them by one try. We are really pleased with how much we have grown as a squad.
“We have had some excellent leadership from our Year 13 students. They had that experience of losing, and knew what it feels like, and brought us all together at the end.
“It has been a long journey, probably about six years in the making, and our girls were on [Pitch 1] just before which was also making history, so it was good for us to seal the deal. It has been a really good weekend.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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.”
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
