Thousands of Bangalore fans celebrate Women's Premier League win for RCB

It was celebration time across the city of Bengaluru as the Royal Challengers Bangalore clinched the Women's Premier League title after a thumping win over Delhi Capitals on Sunday.

RCB won their maiden WPL title after their spinners triggered a collapse to restrict the Capitals to just 113, setting the stage for an eight-wicket win at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.

Chasing a modest total, Bangalore started slowly and overcame the loss of openers Sophie Devine (32) and captain Smriti Mandhana (31) before Ellyse Perry (35 not out) and Richa Ghosh (17 not out) led them to victory in the final over.

Delhi could have made the task a lot more challenging after captain Meg Lanning won the toss and chose to bat.

Shafali Verma (44) and Lanning (23) started well with a blistering 64-run opening stand in seven overs before Sophie Molineux (3-20) put the stops on their charge with three wickets in four balls.

From there, the Capitals completely lost their way. Sobhana Asha (2-14) and Shreyanka Patil (4-12) then chipped in with wickets at regular intervals to clean up the middle order and tail as Delhi collapsed and were dismissed for 113 in 18.3 overs.

"It all happened relatively quickly, as it tends to do," Lanning said of the collapse.

"Crazy things happen, and every game has been pretty close," she added. "They deserved the win."

Captain Smriti Mandhana was over the moon after clinching the first trophy in RCB franchise's history.

"I am proud of the bunch. We have been through ups and downs but they have stuck at it, and the way we have gotten past the line, it was amazing," she said.

"I am not the only one who has won the trophy, the team has won. For RCB as a franchise to win, it is really, really special. I have a message for all the RCB fans, the most loyal fan base. Nothing would have been possible without their support."

Bangalore fans came out in full force to mark what was a momentous occasion. The franchise has one of the most fervent fan bases despite having never lifted the trophy in the men's IPL, finishing as runners up three times. The success of the women's team was celebrated across the city late into the night.

It also highlighted the growing popularity of the WPL that is now the second most valuable property in women's franchise sport. The tournament in India this season witnessed excellent crowd attendances throughout and the final was played at a near capacity stadium in Delhi.

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.”

Thousands of Bangalore fans celebrate Women's Premier League win for RCB

Royal Challengers ease past Delhi Capitals by eight wickets to lift maiden trophy