Ali Al Qaisi produced a dominant performance over Jesse Arnett to see out their trilogy with his second win over the Canadian and retain his UAE Warriors featherweight title in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Having submitted Arnett in their second meeting to regain the belt last September, this time it went to the judges scorecards, with the Jordanian awarded a unanimous decision at the Etihad Arena.
“This fight could have ended early if not for my fans who had requested me to put up a show by going the distance,” Al Qaisi said.
“My preparation for Jesse was great and that reflected on the fight tonight. I’m glad with the show I put up. I love to compete in the UAE because I have lots of fans behind me.
"Also by winning, this featherweight belt remains in Abu Dhabi and in the Arab World.”
Arnett avoided most of Al Qaisi's offensive moves in the first two rounds. The champion suffered a bloody nose in the second but that only fuelled him to come back stronger.
Al Qaisi produced a fine all-round performance, scoring consistently through punches, high knee strikes and his spinning arm in a standing battle throughout the five rounds.
Al Qaisi landed 56 scoring shots to Arnett’s 16. He was also successful with his kicks and high knee blows, coming out 23 against two.
“I would have finished him off even if I had to fight with a broken arm,” Al Qaisi said after improving his career record to 15 wins against six losses.
“I’m going to celebrate this win with my team, family, friends and many of my fans tonight and then get ready for a title defence on whoever the promotion would bring next.”
In the co-main event, Iran's Amir Fazli clinched victory over Brazilian Juscelino Ferreira by unanimous decision to take home the vacant middleweight title.
Fazli was then joined in the cage by light heavyweight champion Tarek Suleiman who called for a champion v champion match-up in the future.
“I was the last one to challenge for the middleweight title and now we have a champion and now I want to drop down in the weight to challenge him for this belt,” Suleiman said.
“Amir is a respected fighter with a huge background in kickboxing. It’s an honour for me to challenge him for the title. Hopefully the promotion can schedule this meeting for us to put on a show by the end of this year.”
Turkey's Attila Korkmaz won the opening bout against Croatia's Karlo Caput in the lightweight division with a submission heel-lock in just two minutes and 35 seconds of the first round.
Brazilian Alex da Silva knocked out Ali Mashrapov of Kyrgyzstan in Round 3 of the catchweight 160lbs, while Abdullo Khodzhaev made a winning debut in the promotion.
Tajikistan's Khodzhaev beat Rusten Kudaybergenov of Kazakhstan via a rear naked choke in Round 1 in the lightweight to stretch his win streak to five.
Furkatbek Yokubov of Uzbekistan outclassed Junifer Kimmayong of the Philippines in the first round of the catchweight 132lbs while Swede Elin Oberg made it two from two in the promotion with a first round win over China’s Ding Miao in the catchweight 121lbs.
In the lightweight division, Russia's Amru Magomedov stretched his undefeated run to six with a first round submission of Brazilian Renan Oliveira and his compatriot Murad Bilarov defeated Bagysh Zharmamatov of Kyrgyzstan via submission in the third round.
Russian Ullubiy Amirzhanov made short work of Croatian Filip Maric via a guillotine submission in just 26 seconds of the opening round.
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THE BIO
Favourite place to go to in the UAE: The desert sand dunes, just after some rain
Who inspires you: Anybody with new and smart ideas, challenging questions, an open mind and a positive attitude
Where would you like to retire: Most probably in my home country, Hungary, but with frequent returns to the UAE
Favorite book: A book by Transilvanian author, Albert Wass, entitled ‘Sword and Reap’ (Kard es Kasza) - not really known internationally
Favourite subjects in school: Mathematics and science
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LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
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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.”
How will Gen Alpha invest?
Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.
“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.
Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.
He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.
Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”
