Moeen Ali hits quickfire half-century to seal World Cup warm-up win for England

England completed their World Cup preparation with a rain-affected victory against Bangladesh at Guwahati on Monday.

Joe Root and Moeen Ali guided England to a four-wicket win under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method with a bludgeoning partnership of 79 in 10 overs.

After Saturday’s clash with India was washed out, England suffered further weather frustration as they geared up to get their World Cup defence under way against New Zealand on Thursday.

England were set a revised target of 197 in 37 overs after Bangladesh’s innings had been disrupted by a three-hour rain delay.

Dawid Malan nicked to slip with just four to his name, but England raced to 50 inside five overs as Jonny Bairstow struck 34 from 21 balls.

There was concern for England as Bairstow needed medical attention on his back while out in the middle, and the batter suffered more discomfort as Mustafizur Rahman soon dislodged his leg-stump bail.

Harry Brook was also castled for 17 but Jos Buttler maintained England’s impetus, smashing five fours and a six in a 15-ball 30.

Buttler’s blitzkrieg ended when he pulled Shoriful Islam to offer Towhid Hridoy a simple catch on the deep square boundary.

England were 114 for five after Liam Livingstone drove Taskin Ahmed to mid-off and Najmul Hossain Shanto managed to wrap his fingers under the ball diving forward.

At that point Bangladesh were sensing a surprise victory but Root, with 26 precious runs following a recent run of sticky form, and Moeen were commanding.

Moeen hammered 56 from 39 balls before falling four runs short of victory, England eventually easing home in 24.1 overs and with 77 deliveries to spare.

Bangladesh made 188 for nine after rain reduced their innings to 37 overs.

Only Mehidy Hasan Miraz (74) and Tanzid Hasan (45) went past 20 as Buttler used nine bowlers and rotated his attack in hot and humid conditions.

Bangladesh won the toss but Buttler indicated he was content to field and give his bowlers a workout amid the prospect of rain.

Mark Wood was back in action for the first time since the Ashes and bowled with plenty of pace and accuracy.

Wood knocked out Tanzid’s middle stump, while Reece Topley took three for 23 from five and Adil Rashid and David Willey picked up two wickets apiece.

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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.”