Week 12 of the Arabian Gulf League could be pivotal in the championship race as leaders Al Wahda look to maintain their narrow advantage at the top of the table.
As many as five teams have a chance of topping the standings when this round of league matches ends on Monday.
On Sunday, in-form Al Ain travel to Abu Dhabi rivals Baniyas, having dealt Wahda their first defeat of the season in the last round of matches.
Zlatko Dalic’s side have two games in hand on most of their rivals due to Asian Champions League commitments earlier in the season, and wins in both of them would send Al Ain four points clear.
Al Shabab are second only on head-to-head record to Wahda. They host third-place Al Jazira, who are just one point behind the leaders.
Such is the compacted nature of the table that Shabab could go top with a win or drop to fifth with a loss. Shabab also have a game in hand on their rivals, which is one of Al Ain’s postponed matches.
On Monday, Al Nasr, who are fourth on the same points as Jazira, have what should be a simple win at struggling Kalba. The league’s bottom side have lost 10 of their 11 games, drawing the other, and have only scored eight goals.
Then the heavyweight match-up of the round takes place at Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi as Wahda, unbeaten at home, host the struggling champions, Al Ahli.
Defeat for the visitors would leave them nine points off the pace with one round of games to play before the AGL takes a break for January’s Asian Cup.
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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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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
