Groups and tee times (UAE) for 2016 Omega Dubai Desert Classic — Round 2

The groups and tee times for the first round of the 2016 Omega Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club. All times UAE.

Order: Tee, time, player name

1. 07:15 Matt Ford, Sébastien Gros, Amine Joudar

1. 07:25 Andrew Dodt, Pablo Larrazabal, Jin Jeong

1. 07:35 Roope Kakko, Matteo Manassero, Paul Doherty

1. 07:45 Richie Ramsay, Peter Hanson, Mikko Ilonen

1. 07:55 Scott Hend, Felipe Aguilar, Lionel Weber

1. 08:05 Alejandro Canizares, Lee Slattery, Simon Khan

1. 08:15 Edoardo Molinari, Bryson DeChambeau (am)

1. 08:25 Nicolas Colsaerts, Robert Rock, Edouard Espana

1. 08:35 Graeme Storm, Steve Webster, Thriston Lawrence

1. 08:45 Borja Virto Astudillo, Joakim Lagergren, Raphaël Jacquelin

1. 08:55 Michael Hoey, Scott Jamieson, Jorge Campillo

10. 07:15 Alvaro Quiros, Fabrizio Zanotti, David Horsey

10. 07:25 Paul Lawrie, Ashun Wu, Marcel Siem

10. 07:35 Lucas Bjerregaard, Tommy Fleetwood, Haydn Porteous

10. 07:45 Gary Stal, Marc Warren, George Coetzee

10. 07:55 Ernie Els, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Bernd Wiesberger

10. 08:05 Joachim Hansen, Danny Willett, Chris Wood

10. 08:15 Matthew Fitzpatrick, Byeong Hun An, Jamie Donaldson

10. 08:25 Robert Karlsson, Brandon Stone, Stephen Gallacher

10. 08:35 David Howell, Anthony Wall, Joost Luiten

10. 08:45 Marcus Fraser, Richard Sterne, Faycal Serghini

10. 08:55 Romain Wattel, Renato Paratore, Nacho Elvira

1. 11:35 David Lipsky, Brett Rumford, Alexander Levy

1. 11:45 Trevor Immelman, Prom Meesawat, Lee Corfield

1. 11:55 James Morrison, Ricardo Gouveia, Nathan Holman

1. 12:05 Kristoffer Broberg, Lee Westwood, Ross Fisher

1. 12:15 Soren Kjeldsen, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell

1. 12:25 Rory McIlroy, Louis Oosthuizen, Henrik Stenson

1. 12:35 Miguel Angel Jimenez, Andy Sullivan, Thongchai Jaidee

1. 12:45 Darren Clarke, Thorbjorn Olesen, Thomas Pieters

1. 12:55 Tyrrell Hatton, Alex Noren, Rafa Cabrera-Bello

1. 13:05 Oliver Wilson, Mikko Korhonen, David Drysdale

1. 13:15 Eduardo De la Riva, Pelle Edberg, Zane Scotland

10. 11:35 Grégory Harvet, Wade Ormsby, Gabriel Canizares

10. 11:45 Johan Carlsson, Andrew Johnston, Robert Dinwiddie

10. 11:55 Bradley Dredge, Gregory Bourdy, Paul McGinley

10. 12:05 Matthew Baldwin, Julien Quesne, James Aallan (am)

10. 12:15 Hennie Otto, Rikard Karlberg, Trevor Fisher Jr

10. 12:25 Morten Orum Madsen, Gavin Green, Jeev Milkha Singh

10. 12:35 Craig Lee, Oliver Fisher, Benjamin Hebert

10. 12:45 Dominic Foos, Niclas Fasth, Ben Evans

10. 12:55 Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Darren Fichardt, Daniel Brooks

10. 13:05 Simon Dyson, Magnus A Carlsoon, Eddie Pepperell

10. 13:15 Maximilian Kieffer, Richard Bland, Chris Paisley

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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.”