The UAE were given a real-time indication of what they will be up against if they are going to stave off relegation from Asian rugby union's top flight when the fixture of their closest rivals was aired live on Al Jazeera on Friday.
The national team, who had a rest from competition this weekend, travel to the Philippines in two weeks' time for a match that will decide their fate in the Asian Five Nations.
Like the UAE, the Philippines are still searching for their first points in this year's competition after they lost 59-20 to Hong Kong in Manila.
The home side appeared to have the measure of Hong Kong in the early exchanges.
However, the UAE will have been encouraged by the way the guests then proceeded to dominate the forward exchanges, forcing two penalty tries at scrums in the first half.
The UAE enjoyed some joy against Hong Kong in the scrum when the sides met two weeks ago, and will hope to establish control there against the Volcanos on May 18.
"Philippines were everything we expected of them and more," Leigh Jones, Hong Kong's coach, said in a televised interview after the match.
"We knew we were in a game at half time but all credit to our lads. We changed what we were doing at half time and our tactics worked in the second half."
It seems likely that each of the UAE and the Philippines will still be without a point when they meet on the final weekend of the Asian Five Nations.
Philippines face a South Korea side who easily dispensed with the UAE in Al Ain last weekend.
If they were not already aware, results yesterday gave a graphic reminder that the national team's next assignment will be brutal.
Japan, the perennial champions, visit Dubai on Friday looking to wrap up another Five Nations title.
They beat South Korea - who won 75-10 in the UAE last weekend - by the comprehensive margin of 64-5 in Tokyo on Friday.
It was their 23rd straight bonus-point win in the competition to head into their game at the weekend with with an unassailable lead in this year's competition.
"It was a good first 40 minutes and although we got a little bit tired in the second half and were a bit flat, we finished well," Eddie Jones, the Japan coach, was quoted as saying.
Results and fixtures - Saturday
Japan 64-5 South Korea
Philippines 20-59 Hong Kong
Remaining UAE fixtures
Friday, 8pm kick-off: v Japan, The Sevens, Dubai
Saturday, May 18, v Philippines, Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila
Top scorers - Through yesterday
Ayumu Goromaru, Japan 63
Oh Youn-hyung, South Korea 25
Kenki Fukuoka, Japan 20
Kim Kwang-min, South Korea 20
Male Sau, Japan 15
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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.”
Squads
Sri Lanka Tharanga (c), Mathews, Dickwella (wk), Gunathilaka, Mendis, Kapugedera, Siriwardana, Pushpakumara, Dananjaya, Sandakan, Perera, Hasaranga, Malinga, Chameera, Fernando.
India Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rohit, Rahul, Pandey, Rahane, Jadhav, Dhoni (wk), Pandya, Axar, Kuldeep, Chahal, Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar, Thakur.
