Pep Guardiola insisted the Premier League title race is far from over despite Manchester City heading into the new year eight points clear at the top.
Phil Foden’s first-half goal was enough for City to secure a 1-0 win at Brentford and tighten their grip on top spot after slip-ups by Liverpool and Chelsea.
Guardiola’s reigning champions have now won 10 matches in a row, but the City boss said: “We won the game, we are on a good run, but it’s the end of December.
“There are many games to go. We are eight points in front but there are 54 still to play for and many tough games still to play.
“I’m not going to believe anyone who says it’s already done. The teams we have with Chelsea and Liverpool are more than exceptional.
“We have the distance not because they dropped points but because we won 10 in a row. But there are 54 points still to play for.”
The winning goal arrived in the 16th minute. Kevin De Bruyne whipped in a first-time cross from the right, which Foden expertly guided home with his instep.
Foden and Jack Grealish had been benched for City’s wins over Newcastle and Leicester after they were pictured on a night out after the 7-0 home win over Leeds.
But the England pair were back in the starting line-up and it was Foden who dazzled.
“Phil has always been outstanding. He’s a guy who can play in different positions at an exceptional level," Guardiola said.
“We had no doubts about that. Did he have anything to prove? Absolutely not.”
City could, and probably should, have scored more after the break. Less than a minute into the second half Foden almost had another, his glancing header from another De Bruyne cross flying wide of the far post.
He and Aymeric Laporte both had the ball in the net but were pulled up for offside, while De Bruyne hit the near post with a skidding effort from the edge of the area.
But it was far from one-way traffic with Brentford watching Yoane Wissa’s shot cleared off the line by Joao Cancelo
“Every time they put the ball in the box, they are so good," Guardiola said. “Just look at the results Brentford have done this season. It has been so tight.
"They are exceptional at what they do and that’s why the game we played was perfect today.”
Brentford’s performance was all the more impressive given they were without 11 first-team players.
“It was an incredible, unbelievable, fantastic performance, especially in the first half," coach Thomas Frank said.
“We were playing against the best team in Europe. We all know City are fantastic offensively, but they have their moments when they are in form and not in form, and we got them at the top of their form.
“We gave one chance away in 45 minutes and created three opportunities. Unfortunately, we lacked a cutting edge in the second half.
“But I’m incredibly proud and thought we deserved at least a point.”
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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War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
