Bayern Munich have their eyes set on equalling a 30 year old record for the Bundesliga’s longest unbeaten run as they prepare to go to Hoffenheim on Saturday.
Following their treble-winning 2012-13 campaign in which they broke one record after another, the outgoing Jupp Heynckes appeared to have left his successor Pep Guardiola with a thankless task.
But Guardiola has picked up where Heynckes left off and has already equalled Bayern’s longest ever unbeaten start to a Bundesliga season, set in 1968/69.
As a result, the reigning champions are now undefeated in their domestic league in 35 games in over a year and a draw or a win at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena in Sinsheim on Saturday will see them match the previous best mark set by Hamburg between January 1982 and January 1983.
“Our target and ambition is to take all three points in Hoffenheim,” left-back David Alaba said this week.
“But obviously, we know Hoffenheim will make it as hard as they can for us in front of their home crowd. Hoffenheim are much stronger compared to last season and they’re playing well as a team.”
Games involving Hoffenheim have tended to be entertaining affairs this season, with Markus Gisdol’s side the joint-top scorers in the division alongside Borussia Dortmund.
And their last home game was the now infamous 2-1 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen a fortnight ago in which Stefan Kiessling’s ‘phantom goal’ ultimately proved to be the decisive counter.
Hoffenheim have since learned that the result of that match will stand, but their confidence was lifted by a 4-1 win at Hannover last week and Gisdol is looking forward to welcoming the champions.
“It’s a special game for us – for Bayern not so much,” said Gisdol this week, perhaps forgetting the record that is in sight for the visitors in Sinsheim.
Bayern have won eight and drawn two of their opening 10 games to sit a point clear of Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the standings, and that trio have already opened up a gap on the pack below that looks unlikely to be closed again.
It has been an excellent last week for Dortmund, who followed up wins at Arsenal in the Champions League and at Schalke in the Ruhr derby with the announcement that sought-after coach Jurgen Klopp had extended his contract until the summer of 2018.
“We’re all so pleased that we can help this team, which is still a long way from reaching its peak, to develop. We want to shape the future of this wonderful club together,” Klopp told the Bundesliga’s official website.
On Friday, Dortmund entertain Stuttgart looking to beat the Swabians at home for the first time since September 2008.
Klopp – who was born in Stuttgart – knows to expect another tough test against a side who are unbeaten in seven league games since Thomas Schneider replaced Bruno Labbadia in the dugout.
“I assume it will be a closely fought game, but I also believe that we will win,” said Klopp, who could have Sebastian Kehl back after injury.
Like Bayern, Leverkusen have records in sight this weekend, as a win at struggling Eintracht Braunschweig will make this their best ever start to a season in 34 years in the Bundesliga.
Sami Hyypia’s side, who saw Germany midfielder Lars Bender sign a contract extension this week tying him to the club until 2019, should prove too strong for Braunschweig, who have won just once so far in what is their first top-flight campaign in more than quarter of a century.
In other games, Schalke warm up for their Champions League trip to face Chelsea by taking on fifth-place Hertha Berlin in the capital, and struggling duo Nuremberg and Freiburg are both still looking for their first win of the season as they meet in Franconia.
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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Director: Navdeep Singh
Stars: Saif Ali Khan, Manav Vij, Deepak Dobriyal, Zoya Hussain
Rating: 2/5
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
The biog
Favourite book: You Are the Placebo – Making your mind matter, by Dr Joe Dispenza
Hobby: Running and watching Welsh rugby
Travel destination: Cyprus in the summer
Life goals: To be an aspirational and passionate University educator, enjoy life, be healthy and be the best dad possible.
Florida: The critical Sunshine State
Though mostly conservative, Florida is usually always “close” in presidential elections. In most elections, the candidate that wins the Sunshine State almost always wins the election, as evidenced in 2016 when Trump took Florida, a state which has not had a democratic governor since 1991.
Joe Biden’s campaign has spent $100 million there to turn things around, understandable given the state’s crucial 29 electoral votes.
In 2016, Mr Trump’s democratic rival Hillary Clinton paid frequent visits to Florida though analysts concluded that she failed to appeal towards middle-class voters, whom Barack Obama won over in the previous election.
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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