Chelsea's Viktor Moses rides the challenge of Basle's Fabian Schaer during the London club's 3-1 win to send them through to the Europa League final in Amsterdam.
Chelsea's Viktor Moses rides the challenge of Basle's Fabian Schaer during the London club's 3-1 win to send them through to the Europa League final in Amsterdam.

Celebrations on hold as Chelsea set up Europa League final with Benfica



LONDON // Celebrations amongst Chelsea staff and players following their progression into the Europa League final will be kept to a minimum, according to interim manager Rafael Benitez.

The Blues will face Benfica in the final in Amsterdam next month having beaten Basle 3-1 at Stamford Bridge last night to record a 5-2 aggregate victory.

Early second half goals from Fernando Torres, Victor Moses and David Luiz secured safe passage for Chelsea, who had fallen behind to a Mohamed Salah goal in first-half stoppage time.

Benfica advanced to the final after Oscar Cardozo scored twice in a 3-1 win against Fenerbahce to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg.

Benfica needed just nine minutes to level the aggregate score in Lisbon as Nicolas Gaitan poked in Lima's cross.

Dirk Kuyt's 23rd-minute penalty, after Ezequiel Garay's handball, gave the Turkish club a precious away goal.

But Oscar made it 2-1 with a low left-footed drive from the edge of the area in the 35th, and the Paraguayan netted again in the 66th to earn the Portuguese club their first continental final in 23 years

With a European final berth in the bag, Benitez will now try to steer Chelsea to a top-four finish in the Barclays Premier League and, with important fixtures against champions Manchester United and fellow Champions League-chasers Tottenham in the next week, the Spaniard is keen to keep celebrations low-key.

"When you play two games a week, it's not as if you can have the team and train with them," he said.

"You have to give them recovery time the day after matches. We just have to recover players and be ready. Nothing special. I'll just enjoy it with the staff."

Benitez has never been seen as a popular appointment by a majority of Chelsea fans and the Spaniard had to endure chants in support of previous managers Roberto Di Matteo and Jose Mourinho from the home fans last night.

But the former Liverpool boss has guided Chelsea to their second European final in as many seasons, even if he does not want to take personal glory from the occasion.

"I am really pleased to be there [in the final]," he added.

"I think we have worked so hard during the year to be in finals and semi-finals, and now we're in another final.

"I think the players deserve to be there. I'm really pleased for the players and everybody here. It's an opportunity for the club.

"Again I would say it's not just about me. It's about the players, the staff, the fans, the club, everyone. I was helping the team.

"As a manager you have to do your job. When you play a lot of finals, another one is really good. The main thing is we're in the final and now we have to try to win it."

Mourinho has been heavily linked with a sensational return to Stamford Bridge in the summer and Benitez will aim to go out on a high with success in Holland, even though he is expecting a stern test.

"It'll be tough because Benfica are a very, very dangerous team and hard to play against, but at least we are there," he added.

"With the commitment and the quality, we'll have a chance for sure."

SERIE A FIXTURES

Friday (UAE kick-off times)

Sassuolo v Bologna (11.45pm)

Saturday

Brescia v Torino (6pm)

Inter Milan v Verona (9pm)

Napoli v Genoa (11.45pm)

Sunday

Cagliari v Verona (3.30pm)

Udinese v SPAL (6pm)

Sampdoria v Atalanta (6pm)

Lazio v Lecce (6pm)

Parma v Roma (9pm)

Juventus v Milan (11.45pm)

 

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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.”