Zico shown during his stint as coach of the Iraq national team in 2012. Kimimasa Mayama / EPA / September 9, 2012
Zico shown during his stint as coach of the Iraq national team in 2012. Kimimasa Mayama / EPA / September 9, 2012
Zico shown during his stint as coach of the Iraq national team in 2012. Kimimasa Mayama / EPA / September 9, 2012
Zico shown during his stint as coach of the Iraq national team in 2012. Kimimasa Mayama / EPA / September 9, 2012

Sport

Brazil’s Zico lined up to coach in Indian Super League

Zico, 61, will manage FC in the 10-week Indian Super League tournament beginning in October.

Agence France Presse

September 03, 2014

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Brazilian legend Zico has signed up to coach a team in the Indian Super League, joining other former stars in the new franchise-based venture to be played later this year.

Zico, 61, who played in three World Cups and has coached around the world, will manage the Goa franchise for the 10-week tournament that begins in October.

The tournament has been modelled along the lines of cricket’s cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) and hopes to raise football’s profile in the cricket-mad nation.

Zico, one of Brazil’s great exponents of “the beautiful game” who played in World Cups from 1978 to 1986, signed the contract in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, a statement from Goa franchise said.

“FC Goa is proud to announce that the legendary Brazilian football player Zico has agreed to be the manager of their team that will play in the Indian Super League,” the statement said.

It added that representatives of the club, owned by a group of football-loving Goa businessmen, will travel to Brazil soon to help Zico complete visa formalities.

Other former stars who have confirmed their participation as player or coach include Italian great Alessandro Del Piero, France and Juventus striker David Trezeguet, his compatriot Robert Pires, Spaniard Luis Garcia, and England goalkeeper David James.

The league is backed by India’s Reliance Industries, controlled by the country’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, sports management giant IMG and Rupert Murdoch’s Star TV.

India, ranked a lowly 150th in the world, has been dubbed a “sleeping giant” by world governing body Fifa president Sepp Blatter.

But the English Premier League draws big TV audiences and team owners are hoping to replicate the success of the IPL, the domestic Twenty20 cricket tournament that attracts some of the game’s biggest names.

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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.”

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

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