Everton show is set to run and run

One of the many cliches wheeled out by managers is, "It's a marathon, not a sprint". It is usually uttered after their side have just lost; a defence designed to fend off moans from the stands as to why they are struggling.

Indeed, David Moyes may be the Premier League's greatest exponent of the adage during his eight years at Everton. Although to hear him say it this season takes on an entirely new meaning.

Everton are notorious slow starters when the season kicks off in August and strong finishers when it climaxes in May. Their form over the course of a season can be characterised much like Usain Bolt in a 100-metre sprint; slow out of the blocks, trailing rivals by five strides at halfway before finishing with a flourish, although a top-10 finish is usually all they have to show for their efforts.

Too often they surrender ground to rivals early on. This term, only Chelsea have set a faster pace.

After six games, Everton sit second in the table with 13 points, including an opening-day victory over Manchester United. The last time they matched that tally, in 2004/05 - Moyes's first season in charge - they went on to finish fourth.

The Scot is rightly credited for working wonders on a relatively small budget at Goodison Park but Everton's austerity has often brought prosperity in the transfer market.

The manager's eye for talent inspired the current influx of Belgian players in England when he forked out a club record £15 million (Dh89m) for Marouane Fellaini in 2008, a towering presence in midfield, standing 6ft 4 ins (1.94m) tall, who garnered admiring glances from Real Madrid in the summer.

While many questioned whether Nikica Jelavic could reproduce his prolific form in Scotland against England's superior defences, Moyes backed the striker to score goals in a tougher league when he signed him from Glasgow Rangers.

The Croatian netted twice in the 3-1 win against Southampton on Saturday.

The defence is compact and creative. Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin provide the muscle, Leighton Baines the muse for attacks with marauding runs from left-back.

But will Everton have the legs for a sprint finish, or will they gasp for breath down the home straight?

With Moyes running the show, Everton have all the pieces in place to secure a Champions League berth.

sluckings@thenational.ae

@SprtNationalUAE

& Steve Luckings

@sluckinghell

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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.”

Low turnout

Two months before the first round on April 10, the appetite of voters for the election is low.

Mathieu Gallard, account manager with Ipsos, which conducted the most recent poll, said current forecasts suggested only two-thirds were "very likely" to vote in the first round, compared with a 78 per cent turnout in the 2017 presidential elections.

"It depends on how interesting the campaign is on their main concerns," he told The National. "Just now, it's hard to say who, between Macron and the candidates of the right, would be most affected by a low turnout."