Sport

Australia rugby union captain Ben Mowen quitting Wallabies, moving to France

Explaining his decision, the 29 year old said, 'While my desire to play in Australia is still extremely strong, my priority is to spend more time with my wife and our daughter.'

Agence France Presse

January 09, 2014

  • English
  • Arabic

Wallabies captain Ben Mowen said Thursday he will quit Australian rugby and move to France later this year, ruling him out of the 2015 World Cup.

The 29 year old said an intense travel schedule and missing time with his young daughter convinced him it was time to put his family first – effectively ending his international career just seven months after it started.

“While my desire to play for Australia is still extremely strong, my priority is to spend more time with my wife and our daughter,” Mowen said in a statement.

“I would have loved my career to have lined up to help Australia win the next Rugby World Cup, but my priority at this stage in my life is my family.

“I will be cheering hard from a distance -- we have the squad and coaching staff to achieve a Rugby World Cup win in 2015 and I wish them all the very best.”

Mowen, who has played 15 Tests for Australia, made his international debut last June against the British and Irish Lions and was promoted to captain ahead of James Horwill for the Grand Slam tour of Europe, which featured five international fixtures in November.

Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie said the shock decision means Mowen will not be eligible for national selection in 2015, but the door would remain open for him if he wants to return to Australia.

“He has been in touch with me regularly throughout his decision-making process and he has approached this decision in his usual style – with professionalism and diligence,” McKenzie said.

“It’s obviously disappointing to lose a player of Ben’s calibre, but after speaking to him about his personal priorities, we appreciate that he is making this decision based on what is the right for him personally and professionally.”

Mowen insists he will leave Australia with no regrets and his impending move to France will allow him to spend more time with wife Lauren and 18-month-old Eleanor.

Mowen spent almost seven months away from his family during a hectic 2013, which included a Super Rugby finals campaign, a British and Irish Lions series and six-week tour of Europe.

The Brumbies skipper said he would play the Super Rugby season in Canberra before moving abroad. He told Fairfax Media he was in the final stages of negotiating a deal in France.

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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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