Sport

All-Britain clash as Tottenham are drawn against Hearts

The Europa League paired two British teams together, while Rangers will hope to get over their Champions League disappointment with Maribor.

Agencies

August 06, 2011

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Tottenham Hotspur and Heart of Midlothian will go head-to-head for a place in this season's Europa League after being drawn together in the play-offs yesterday.

Harry Redknapp's men qualified for the play-offs automatically and will travel to Edinburgh on August 18, with the return leg at White Hart Lane a week later.

Hearts, who booked their place in the play-offs with a 4-1 win over the Hungarian side PAKS on Thursday night, are now under the management of Paulo Sergio, following the shock exit of Jim Jefferies. It will be the first ever competitive meeting between the two side.

Fulham's reward for getting past Croatia's RNK Split with a comfortable 2-0 home win on Thursday night is a clash against the Ukrainian side Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. Martin Jol's men have been in action in the competition since qualifying started at the end of June.

Glasgow Rangers, the Scottish champions, will look to put their Champions League disappointment behind them against Slovenian side Maribor. Darko Milanic's team won the Slovenian title for a ninth time last season, while Rangers were surprise casualties from the Champions League when they went out to Malmo in a two-legged play-off. Rangers' Old Firm rivals Celtic will need to get the better of Swiss side FC Sion. Stoke City are also facing a trip to Switzerland after being paired with FC Thun, with the first leg at Arena Thun.

Birmingham City, the Carling Cup winners who will compete despite their relegation to the Championship, face the Portuguese club Nacional. The Irish side Shamrock Rovers were drawn against Partizan Belgrade, with the first game due to be played at the Tallaght Stadium. Rovers were knocked out of the Champions League qualifying stages by FC Copenhagen on Wednesday.

Atletico Madrid, the 2010 Europa League winner, will face Vitoria Guimaraes, while last season's runners-up Braga play Switzerland's Young Boys, and the 2006 and 2007 winners Sevilla are away in the first leg against Hannover.

Schalke, Champions League semi-finalists last season, were drawn away to HJK Helsinki.

Roma host Slovan Bratislava, and Paris Saint-Germain are away to Olympiakos Volos, although Uefa could disqualify the Greek club as they are involved in a match-fixing investigation

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.”

Results

4.30pm Jebel Jais – Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 (Turf) 1,000m; Winner: MM Al Balqaa, Bernardo Pinheiro (jockey), Qaiss Aboud (trainer)

5pm: Jabel Faya – Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 (T) 1,000m; Winner: AF Rasam, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

5.30pm: Al Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: AF Mukhrej, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

6pm: The President’s Cup Prep – Conditions (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Mujeeb, Richard Mullen, Salem Al Ketbi

6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club – Prestige (PA) Dh125,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Jawal Al Reef, Antonio Fresu, Abubakar Daud

7pm: Al Ruwais – Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: Ashton Tourettes, Pat Dobbs, Ibrahim Aseel

7.30pm: Jebel Hafeet – Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Nibraas, Richard Mullen, Nicholas Bachalard

SPECS
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The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

Tottenham HotspurEuropa LeagueFulham