The UAE have been handed a boost ahead of their first appearance at a Women’s Asia Cup with the return of Mahika Gaur.
The national team will face India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia at the competition in Sylhet. They start their campaign against Sri Lanka on Sunday.
The competition follows on swiftly from the Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in Abu Dhabi.
The national team finished seventh out of the eight teams at that event in the capital. They did pick up the notable scalp of Zimbabwe during the group phase, though.
Their pursuit of one of the two qualifying spots at that event was hamstrung by the absence of Gaur.
The towering left-arm fast bowler left Dubai to attend school in the UK this summer. She only made it back to the UAE in time to greet her teammates at the end of their win against United States in the seventh-placed playoff on Sunday night.
For good reason, they were delighted to see her. Gaur played an integral role in the UAE’s 20-match unbeaten streak that led up to the T20 International Quadrangular series in Dubai this month. In her absence, they lost seven matches out of nine.
The 16-year-old quick played an even more vital role in the U19 side’s qualification for their age-group World Cup. In the Qualifier in Malaysia earlier this year, she took 11 wickets in five matches, at a remarkable average of 2.36 per wicket.
“This is a historic moment for our UAE cricket women,” Andrew Russell, the Emirates Cricket Board’s development manager was quoted as saying.
“Playing in the Women’s Asia Cup [for the first time] is a great honour and one we are confident our ladies will take great pride in.”
Jay Shah, the president of the Asia Cricket Council, said the new seven-team, round-robin format will be “a great boost” for the women’s game on the continent.
“The tournament will be conducted in line with ACC’s vision for women’s cricket,” Shah said. “The ACC, with this vision in mind, is constantly striving toward being more inclusive.
“For the first time ever, an ACC tournament will see an all-female presence on the playing field, with the women’s tournament to have only female umpires and female match referees.
“As an organisation, we hope to continue to take steps to strengthen the sport by highlighting female talent in every avenue.”
UAE squad
Chaya Mughal (captain), Esha Oza, Kavisha Kumari, Khushi Sharma, Theertha Satish, Lavanya Keny, Priyanjali Jain, Suraksha Kotte, Natasha Cherriath, Indhuja Nandakumar, Rishitha Rajith, Vaishnave Mahesh, Siya Gokhale, Samaira Dharnidharka, Mahika Gaur
THE BIO
Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren
Favourite travel destination: Switzerland
Hobbies: Travelling and following motivational speeches and speakers
Favourite place in UAE: Dubai Museum
The BIO
Favourite piece of music: Verdi’s Requiem. It’s awe-inspiring.
Biggest inspiration: My father, as I grew up in a house where music was constantly played on a wind-up gramophone. I had amazing music teachers in primary and secondary school who inspired me to take my music further. They encouraged me to take up music as a profession and I follow in their footsteps, encouraging others to do the same.
Favourite book: Ian McEwan’s Atonement – the ending alone knocked me for six.
Favourite holiday destination: Italy - music and opera is so much part of the life there. I love it.
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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.”
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