UAE to play three-match ODI series in Nepal this month

The Emirates Cricket Board on Thursday announced that the UAE team will travel to Nepal this month to take part in a three-match ODI series.

The series will be played at the Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground in Kathmandu. The first clash will take place on November 14, followed by matches on November 16 and 18. All games will commence at 9am local time (7am UAE).

Mubashshir Usmani, general secretary of ECB, said: “Emirates Cricket expresses our appreciation to the Cricket Association of Nepal for hosting this ODI series and we are delighted to participate in what we expect will be thoroughly enjoyable, and compelling matches. Our sides sit close on the ICC ODI table (UAE are ranked 16th and Nepal 19th) so the hunger to climb these rankings, and further establish ourselves as a competitive ODI side is strong.”

Prashant Bikram Malla, secretary, Cricket Association of Nepal, said: “We are delighted to host the UAE v Nepal ODI series 2022 and we are very pleased Emirates Cricket accepted our invitation to join us at TU Cricket Ground, Kathmandu. With the UAE fresh from their T20 World Cup campaign, we believe our sides are perfectly suited to challenge each other and raise the bar as we move into the next phase of the ICC Associates playing-calendar.”

The UAE gave a good account of themselves during the first round of the T20 World Cup in Australia. They fought valiantly against the Netherlands before losing by three wickets with one ball remaining. They then lost to Sri Lanka before registering a memorable win over Namibia.

UAE's T20 World Cup campaign will also be remembered for the hat-trick that Karthik Meiyappan took against Sri Lanka. The young leg-spinner took the fifth hat-trick in the tournament's history in Geelong, dismissing Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Charith Asalanka and Dasun Shanaka in successive deliveries.

UAE's Karthik Meiyappan celebrates his hat-trick during the T20 World Cup match against Sri Lanka at the Kardinia Park in Geelong on Tuesday, October 18, 2022. AFP
UAE's Karthik Meiyappan celebrates his hat-trick with teammate Junaid Siddique on Tuesday. AFP
Karthik Meiyappan celebrates his hat-trick with teammates Junaid Siddique and Aryan Lakra in Geelong. AFP
UAE's Karthik Meiyappan, centre, after his hat-trick against Sri Lanka. AFP
UAE's Kashif Daud takes a catch to dismiss Sri Lanka's Bhanuka Rajapaksa in Geelong. AFP
UAE's Aryan Lakra after taking the wicket of Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis. AFP
Sri Lanka's Pathum Nissanka scored a fifty on Tuesday. AFP

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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.”

UAE to play three-match ODI series in Nepal this month

Games will be played in Kathmandu from November 14

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