Eastlands side are aiming to take the step from challengers to winners. Ahead of a tough trip to Bolton, Richard Jolly looks at five areas they must improve
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Score more
It is very basic, but true. Last season Manchester City mustered 60 league goals, with Carlos Tevez responsible for one third of them, and Roberto Mancini has said they will need 10 to 15 more.
In reality, it may be more than that: In the last decade, the average total goals of the champions has been 78, and only in 2009, when Manchester United struck 68 times, has fewer than 70 goals sufficed.
But City only scored four in a game three times in 2010/11 so, together with Sergio Aguero's startling debut against Swansea City, it bodes well that they have already done it once this campaign.
Attack the best
The accusation was unfair at times, but it was levelled nonetheless: City tried to draw 0-0 with their immediate rivals.
Their eight games against England's representatives in the Champions League last season produced only three goals at the right end, including an own goal and a deflection.
While a haul of four points from six against Tottenham was excellent and three against Chelsea proved more than respectable, taking just one apiece against Arsenal and Manchester United could be deemed a result of a lack of ambition.
With one gleaming attacking talent, Aguero, having arrived and another, Samir Nasri, possibly set to join him, there is less reason to be cautious now.
Beat the rest
Premier League in pictures
The best images from week 2 of the Premier League.
Obviously a side who excel against their challengers and then defeat their inferiors are formidable. To prosper, City may only need to do one of the two. The chances are that the dropped points that annoyed Mancini the most came from draws at Etihad Stadium, against Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United, Birmingham City and Fulham, or defeats on their travels, at Sunderland, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa and Everton.
Acquiring the ruthlessness to see off the 14 sides who are likely occupy the positions between seventh and 20th is one hallmark of champions.
Rotate
Mancini concedes he has trouble picking his team now, but previously he seemed happiest sticking with the same XI.
In the City manager's defence, injuries to Mario Balotelli, Carlos Tevez and Adam Johnson restricted his ability to rotate last season while the absences of Aleksandar Kolarov, Jerome Boateng, Micah Richards, Kolo Toure and Pablo Zabaleta from the defence had a similar impact, while the long Europa League run was draining.
But some stale performances, such as November's stalemate with Birmingham and February's draw with Fulham, suggested that freshening up the team more often would help.
Finish with a flourish
David Silva's 90th-minute effort at Blackpool last October was a lovely goal. Over the course of the season, however, it would also become apparent it was also unique.
It was the only time City struck in the league after the 81st minute; only they and, coincidentally, Blackpool, did not gain any points courtesy of goals in the last 10 minutes. And in the final 15, City's tally of five goals was a quarter of Manchester United's and Chelsea's.
There is no doubting their neighbours' indelible association with late goals riles, but this is one respect where City would be well advised to copy their rivals.
sports@thenational.ae
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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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