Willian, left, scored the second goal against Venezuela as Brazil moved top of the 2018 World Cup qualifying group. George Castellanos / AFP
Willian, left, scored the second goal against Venezuela as Brazil moved top of the 2018 World Cup qualifying group. George Castellanos / AFP

Sport

World Cup qualifying: Willian and Gabriel Jesus step up in Neymar’s absence as Brazil beat Venezuela

Brazil went top of the South American World Cup qualifying group on Tuesday with a 2-0 win over Venezuela in a match played in torrential rain.

Reuters

October 12, 2016

Brazil went top of the South American World Cup qualifying group on Tuesday with a 2-0 win over Venezuela in a match played in torrential rain and halted for almost half an hour when the floodlights failed in Merida.

The five-time World Cup winners, who were without suspended Barcelona striker Neymar, took just eight minutes to open the scoring with a goal that mixed comedy and beauty.

Venezuela goalkeeper Daniel Hernandez tried to pass the ball to his centre half 30 yards from goal only for Gabriel Jesus to pounce on the woeful attempt and chip the keeper from 20 metres.

More from 2018 World Cup qualifying:

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• European round-up: England held in Slovenia, Germany too strong for Northern Ireland

• John McAuley from Jeddah: UAE World Cup hopes take serious dent in 3-0 defeat to Saudi Arabia

Brazil controlled the game against a team that had not won in their nine previous qualifiers and they got a second their play deserved after 53 minutes when Willian sneaked in at the back post to finish off a low cross from Renato Augusto.

Venezuela improved slightly as the game progressed but although Alejandro Guerra came close after an hour and Alisson saved well from Salomon Rondon with minutes to go, they never looked like halting the progress of their dominant rivals.

The only major disruption to the Brazilian march to victory came when the lights in the Metropolitano stadium went out after 73 minutes.

The game restarted little more than 20 minutes later but there was not much more excitement and Brazil manager Tite, who replaced Dunga in July, was delighted to record his fourth win in four games at the head of the national side.

The result allowed Brazil to leapfrog Uruguay, who started the day top of the table but could only draw 2-2 away at Colombia, into first place in the South American group.

The first four in the 10-team group qualify automatically for Russia and the fifth-placed side go into a playoff with a team from Oceania.

SOUTH AMERICA 2018 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING RESULTS

• Bolivia 2 Ecuador 2

• Colombia 2 Uruguay 2

• Venezuela 0 Brazil 2

• Argentina 0 Paraguay 1

• Chile 2 Peru 1

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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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Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg

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