Babar Azam of Pakistan celebrates scoring a half century against West Indies in the final ODI last week. Tom Dulat / Getty Images / October 5, 2016
Babar Azam of Pakistan celebrates scoring a half century against West Indies in the final ODI last week. Tom Dulat / Getty Images / October 5, 2016
Babar Azam of Pakistan celebrates scoring a half century against West Indies in the final ODI last week. Tom Dulat / Getty Images / October 5, 2016
Babar Azam of Pakistan celebrates scoring a half century against West Indies in the final ODI last week. Tom Dulat / Getty Images / October 5, 2016

Sport

Babar Azam being ‘groomed’ as Pakistan include him in Test squad

Pakistan included Babar Azam in their Test squad after he emerged as a rising star in the limited-overs series in the UAE.

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Pakistan Saturday included in-form Babar Azam for the first Test against the West Indies, Asia's first day-night match to be played with a pink ball.

The 21-year-old batsman notched up 360 runs during the West Indies one-day series that ended Wednesday.

Azam, who has played 18 one-day internationals and four Twenty20s, has yet to play a Test.

Senior batsman Younis Khan will, however, miss the first of the three Tests as he continues recovering from dengue fever.

The squad for the other two Tests will be announced later.

Chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq said Azam was being rewarded for his prolific form.

“We felt Azam did very well on the big stage and is in good form so we have included him in the team so he could be groomed,” Inzamam said.

The selectors have dropped misfiring openers Mohammad Hafeez and Shan Masood from the 15-man squad which levelled the four-match Test series against England 2-2.

Inzamam explained the axing of other regular openers.

“We consulted the captain (Misbah-ul-Haq) and coach (Mickey Arthur) and they wanted the same combination which played in the Oval Test where Azhar Ali and Sami Aslam had opened,” said Inzamam of Pakistan’s last Test in August.

He hoped Younis would recover in time for the second Test.

The second Test starts in Abu Dhabi from October 21 while the final Test is in Sharjah from October 30.

The opening match, in Dubai from October 13, will only be the second Test played under lights and with a pink ball, instead of the usual red.

Australia played the first-ever day-night Test in Adelaide in November last year in an attempt to beef up dwindling crowds for the five-day matches.

Left-arm spinning all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz, who has yet to play a Test, is also part of the Pakistan squad.

Squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Azhar Ali, Sami Aslam, Asad Shafiq, Babar Zaman, Mohammad Nawaz, Sarfraz Ahmed, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Amir, Imran Khan, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Khan, Zulfiqar Babar, Rahat Ali

*Agence France-Presse

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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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Quick pearls of wisdom

Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”

Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.” 

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