Israel Folau, recovering from a throat injury, is annoyed the Australian Rugby Union did not consult with him directly about his health. Mark Kolbe / Getty Images
Israel Folau, recovering from a throat injury, is annoyed the Australian Rugby Union did not consult with him directly about his health. Mark Kolbe / Getty Images
Israel Folau, recovering from a throat injury, is annoyed the Australian Rugby Union did not consult with him directly about his health. Mark Kolbe / Getty Images
Israel Folau, recovering from a throat injury, is annoyed the Australian Rugby Union did not consult with him directly about his health. Mark Kolbe / Getty Images

Sport

Coach McKenzie backs Australia’s withdrawal of Folau

Rugby union star and club coach Michael Cheika left fuming as Waratahs slump to 28-16 loss to Western Force.

Reuters

April 13, 2014

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MELBOURNE // The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) was right to withdraw Israel Folau from New South Wales Waratahs’ Super Rugby clash against Western Force due to concerns about the player’s safety, Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie has said.

The ARU controversially overruled the Waratahs’ selection of the 15-cap Wallaby for Saturday’s match in Perth, saying the marquee fullback’s throat injury had not healed enough to let him play.

Folau, 25, and his coach Michael Cheika were left fuming as the Waratahs slumped to a 28-16 loss at NIB stadium.

“Everyone wants him to play, but in the end you’ve got to consider the player’s welfare,” McKenzie told host broadcaster Fox Sports late on Saturday.

“Obviously, by Thursday when information became available, the ARU got involved at that point and it wasn’t deemed that he was ready to play.

“In the interest of the welfare of Israel and nothing else a decision was made.”

Folau on Saturday took umbrage with the ARU for not consulting with him directly about his health.

McKenzie conceded that the process would be reviewed after Cheika said the ARU had breached protocols by conducting their own medical analysis without briefing the team.

“We will review the process. Both sides of the process,” McKenzie added. “We’ve heard one side of it. We have been involved in the process the last couple of weeks.

“There’s been lots of phone calls between doctors. Who talks to the player? How many people talk to the player? How many people talk to the specialist? We’ll review all that.

“In the end the only motivating factor here is the best interest of Izzy. That’s why the decision was made.”

Folau, who scored eight tries in four Super Rugby matches prior to hurting his throat in a clash against Melbourne Rebels last month, said on Saturday he had been told by specialists that the injury could take six months to fully heal.

Australia face France in a three-Test series in June.

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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.

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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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