The mandarins at the ATP have been flexing their Orwellian muscles again.
Andy Murray had suggested he might consider skipping the season-ending World Tour Finals to prepare for Great Britain’s first Davis Cup final since 1978 – if Belgium decided to host it on clay.
Hours later, ATP president Chris Kermode released a terse statement, reminding the world No 3 that the “ATP World Tour Finals is a mandatory event” and that “all players who qualify, unless injured, are required to compete in the event”.
The ATP’s concerns are understandable to a degree.
With the season-finale taking place at London’s O2 Arena, Murray is one of their biggest attractions along with Roger Federer.
The player knows that, too, and had no qualms about playing an exhibition final against Novak Djokovic last year after an injured Federer opted out of the final.
Murray had no obligation to play then, but he did following a request from the ATP. The same man is now being reminded about his obligations, in such terse tones.
It is sad because all Murray is trying to do is make sure he arrives in Belgium fresh, and that might not be possible given the scheduling. The Davis Cup starts five days after the final of the ATP’s season-ending tournament.
The bigger problem is the transition from the indoor hard courts of the O2 Arena to the clay courts chosen by Belgium. Murray reckons five days are not enough, and he is the best man to decide.
An athlete should have the freedom to choose his events, but the ATP seems determined to deny them that right.
Agreed, it has a tour to run, but it could have shown a bit more savvy in this particular situation.
By releasing that statement, sadly, the ATP has shown themselves as inflexible autocrats.
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Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
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Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
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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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