For the second time in successive years, the UAE and Nepal face a winner-takes-all play-off for the chance to appear at the T20 World Cup.
The familiar rivals will meet at Upper Mulpani Cricket Ground in Kathmandu on Friday morning in the semi-final of the Asia Qualifier.
The two finalists in the eight-team event will progress to the main event in the United States and Caribbean in June 2024.
It is the same scenario which faced the two sides at the start of 2022. The UAE beat Nepal that day in Muscat to book their place at the World Cup in Australia.
The national team will enter the semi-final with spirits soaring, having completed a clean sweep of their three group matches with a 22-run win over Hong Kong.
Basil Hameed hit a 28-ball half-century as the UAE amassed 176 for six from their 20 overs.
Muhammad Waseem, who made 46 in 24 balls, and Alishan Sharafu, who hit 34 in 24, also made valuable contributions with the bat.
Anshy Rath made a fine half century as Hong Kong threatened in reply, but they could manage just 154 for seven.
Nepal, by contrast, will have to raise themselves after a disappointing loss to Oman in their final group match at Tribhuvan University.
They restricted Oman to 145 for nine from their 20 overs, with Sompal Kami outstanding with the ball.
Their reply faltered, though, and despite some heroics at the end from Bibek Yadav, they fell five runs short.
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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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