The Reds are looking good to end play-off drought

Cincinnati are looking good to make their first play-off appearance in 15 years, writes Sean McAdam Cincinnati is one of America's great baseball towns. The Reds have been around for almost 120 years, and the franchise has been home of some of the game's greatest players, five world championships and baseball's first night game. Lately, however, there has not been much winning. The last winning season was in 2000, the last play-off appearance in 1995.

That may soon be changing. With eight weeks remaining in the 2010 season, the Reds had one of the best records in the National League and held a two-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals in the Central Division. The Reds have not clinched anything yet, but, to a man, they feel that this team is part of something special. After a recent series with Atlanta, which featured sold-out crowds in sweltering heat, Brandon Phillips, the second baseman, said: "I feel like everybody in Cincinnati was here."

The Reds are an interesting bunch. There are some homegrown players (Jay Bruce, Mike Leake, Joey Votto), shrewd trade acquisitions (Bronson Arroyo, Phillips, Scott Rolen) and cost-effective free agents (Jonny Gomes, Orlando Cabrera). Their $76 million payroll (Dh279m) is smaller than average. But the Reds' success is even more impressive when you contrast it to struggling franchises in similar-sized markets like Pittsburgh, which hasn't seen a winning season since 1992 - and does not figure to see one soon, either.

Because of their modest resources, the Reds will soon face escalating economic challenges as younger stars such as Votto gain service time and become eligible for arbitration. As such, their window of opportunity is shorter than that of others. But those are concerns for another day. For now, the focus is on the present, which has not been the case for a team seemingly stuck in one rebuilding plan after another for the past decade.

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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.”

The Reds are looking good to end play-off drought

Home to some of the greatest players and five world championships Cincinnati are marching on to their first play-off appearance in 15 years.