Bournemouth were promoted as Championship winners after routing Charlton 3-0 to take the title from previous leaders Watford on the final day of the second tier season.
Eddie Howe’s team had effectively sealed their place in the Premier League on Monday when they defeated Bolton to move three points clear of Middlesbrough with a vastly superior goal difference.
The Cherries needed a point from their trip to the Valley to be certain of clinching a spot in the English elite for the first time in the club’s history and they achieved that aim with the added bonus of finishing in first place.
Matt Ritchie gave them the perfect start with a 10th minute goal and Harry Arter added the second two minutes later.
Ritchie netted again in the 85th minute and the 4,000 Bournemouth supporters who made the trip from the south coast to south London were able to celebrate the title when news filtered through that Watford had been forced to settle for a 1-1 draw after conceding a stoppage-time equaliser against Sheffield Wednesday.
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Watford had already secured their place in the Premier League last weekend, but their hopes of taking the winners’ trophy as well were dashed after Atdhe Nuhiu struck to cancel out Matej Vydra’s first half goal at Vicarage Road.
There was more drama in the race for the play-offs as Derby slipped out of the top six, allowing Brentford to claim a place in the end-of-season competition for the last spot in the Premier League.
Derby needed only one point from their home game against Reading to be certain of qualifying for the play-offs.
But Steve McClaren’s side have been on a poor run of late and they crumbled to a 3-0 defeat as a Reading team with nothing to play for ran riot thanks to goals from Kwesi Appiah, Michael Hector and Gareth McCleary.
The Rams, beaten in last season’s play-off final, had a chance to equalise after Appiah’s opener but Darren Bent’s penalty was saved by Adam Federici, condemning former England coach McClaren to defeat in what could prove to be his final match in charge as reports continue to link him with the Newcastle job.
Derby’s stumble allowed Brentford to rise to a fifth-place finish as the second tier’s surprise package cruised to a 3-0 win over relegated Wigan at Griffin Park.
In their first season in the second tier since 1993, Brentford have thrived under boss Mark Warburton, who in a bizarre twist has already been told he will be dismissed at the end of the season regardless of whether the tiny west London club win a place in the top-flight.
Brentford will face fourth placed Middlesbrough for a place in the play-off final, with the second semi-final a potentially explosive East Anglian derby between bitter rivals Norwich and Ipswich.
Norwich secured third place with a 4-2 win over Fulham, while Ipswich scraped into sixth spot despite losing 3-2 at Blackburn.
Wolves, 4-2 winners against Millwall, missed out on a play-off berth on goal difference.
With Blackpool, Wigan and Millwall already relegated to League One, frustrations boiled over at Bloomfield Road, where hundreds of angry Blackpool supporters forced the abandonment of their match against Huddersfield with a pitch invasion to protest against club owners the Oyston family.
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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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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The Word for Woman is Wilderness
Abi Andrews, Serpent’s Tail
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Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
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The Book of Collateral Damage
Sinan Antoon
(Yale University Press)
