Paul Lambert defended his decision to exclude Aston Villa's record signing Darren Bent once again from his match day plans after his side gained a crucial 1-0 home win over Reading.
A late header from Christian Benteke, who has replaced Bent as the number one striker, moved Aston Villa out of the English Premier League relegation zone.
But the £18 million striker failed to feature even among the substitutes, with Lambert favouring rookie Jordan Bowery instead.
Lambert denied there was any fallout with Bent or that the striker had left the stadium before kick-off after his exclusion from his plans.
Lambert said: "Darren was in the squad, it was the same on Saturday. I just picked the same group. I do what think is best for Aston Villa.
"But honestly, I don't have a problem with Darren Bent and I do rate him as a player.
"I've no problem with his attitude in training, none whatsoever.
"Did he storm off? No, not a thing. I would tell you. I thought he was fine. I read the team out. The most important thing is Aston Villa.
"Will I listen to offers in January? Honestly my main concern is winning games for this club, nothing else.
"Can Bent play again for us Yes, never rule anything out. But I pick a team to win, I never pick one I think will lose."
The game between the two struggling sides looked to be heading towards stalemate, although Villa had offered the greater number of chances.
However, with 10 minutes left Benteke settled the issue, the Belgian forward rising about Reading's defence to head downwards past goalkeeper Adam Federichi.
The result was just the third win of the season for Aston Villa, who fielded eight players under the age of 23, and Lambert admitted afterwards it was a significant one.
"We knew the Arsenal game at the weekend would take a lot out of us," he said.
"Reading had also played well against Wigan so knew it would be a tough game.
"But I don't know about it being a six-pointer. Never look at things now, look in May."
Reading boss Brian McDermott was left to bemoan his side's defending when Benteke headed home an Ashley Westwood corner 10 minutes from time.
It was another late and crucial goal conceded by Reading, who lost 3-2 at Wigan.
He said: "I thought we were going to get a point. I knew the first goal was going to be crucial.
"I thought the shape of the team was good but to lose the goal from a set piece was disappointing.
"I thought we had solved the late goal problem.
"But it's not a six-pointer. It's a game of football and we've got a game of football to look forward to against Manchester United at the weekend."
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The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Geneva from Dh2,845 return, including taxes. The flight takes 6 hours.
The package
Clinique La Prairie offers a variety of programmes. A six-night Master Detox costs from 14,900 Swiss francs (Dh57,655), including all food, accommodation and a set schedule of medical consultations and spa treatments.
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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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Start times
5.55am: Wheelchair Marathon Elites
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7am: Marathon Masses
9am: 10Km Road Race
11am: 4Km Fun Run
How the bonus system works
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
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