Cristiano Ronaldo goal in vain as Al Hilal thrash Al Nassr in Saudi Super Cup final

Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring in Saturday's Saudi Super Cup final but was powerless to resist the fightback from Al Hilal as Al Nassr fell to a 4-1 defeat at Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium.

Ronaldo scored the opener shortly before half time, but Saudi Pro League and King's Cup champions Hilal roared back after the break with goals from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Malcom either side of an Aleksandar Mitrovic double.

Hilal and Nassr were by far the best teams in the SPL last season – albeit with Hilal well clear by winning the title by 14 points – so it was only fitting that the two Riyadh giants contested the season curtain-raiser final.

A competitive first half saw both sides create chances. Ronaldo had a penalty appeal waved off by the referee in the 11th minute when he competed for the ball with Hilal defender Hassan Al Tambakti. At the other end, Mitrovic saw his glancing header rebound off the post in the 34th minute.

Ronaldo then opened the scoring two minutes before the interval following excellent build-up from Saudi winger Salem Al Dawsari, who drew three Hilal players and squared the ball across the area for the Portuguese forward to slot a first-time finish into the far corner.

Hilal came flying out of the traps in the second half, pinning Nassr back and getting plenty of crosses into the area. The pressure soon told as Milinkovic-Savic scored a wonderful equaliser in the 55th minute. The charging Serbian midfielder won the ball midway in the Nassr half and after playing a quick one-two with Mitrovic, carved through the defence before unleashing a shot into the roof of the net.

The floodgates then opened for Hilal, who scored their four goals in the span of 17 minutes. Mitrovic gave his side the lead by nodding in a Ruben Neves cross in the 63rd minute. Six minutes later, the Serbian striker made it 3-1 with his second, slamming Malcom's low cross into the top corner from close range.

Brazilian winger Malcom then sealed the rout in the 72nd minute following a howler from Nassr goalkeeper Bento. After being played a pass under pressure, Bento opted to take a touch instead of hitting a clearance, but his first touch was too heavy, allowing Malcom to pounce, steal the ball, and shoot into an empty net.

“We showed how good we are in the second half,” former Fulham and Newcastle United striker Mitrovic said. “We had some problems in the first half and then changed in the second. We stayed calm and it feels good to get a trophy at the start of the season.”

Hilal, who are still waiting for record signing Neymar to return from a knee ligament injury that has kept the Brazilian out since last October, kick off their league title defence against Al Okhdood next Saturday. Nassr take on Al Raed two days earlier.

The Old Slave and the Mastiff

Patrick Chamoiseau

Translated from the French and Creole by Linda Coverdale

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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.”