The West Indies' bowling attack proved too strong for the relatively inexperienced Papua New Guinea as the two-time former champions won by five wickets in their T20 World Cup clash on Sunday.
Sese Bau's belligerent 50 off 43 balls, with six fours and one six, represented the only meaningful contribution from PNG as they were restricted to 136 for eight after being put in to bat on a bright, humid morning.
Wicketkeeper Kiplin Doriga (27 not out) and captain Assad Vala (21) were the only other players to get past 20 with fast bowlers Alzarri Joseph and Andre Russell spearheading a disciplined West Indies effort with two wickets each.
West Indies captain Rovman Powell opted with a spin-pace combination throughout the innings to good effect.
The slow bowling trio of Akeal Hosein, Gudakesh Motie and Roston Chase contributed with wickets and economy to limit a struggling Papua batting line-up.
Chase then top-scored with 42 off 27 balls in the West Indies' reply, with Brandon King (34) and Nicholas Pooran (27) also contributing as they cruised to 137-5 in 19 overs.
Chastened by desperately poor showings at the last two T20 World Cups, the champions from 2012 and 2016 are keen to pick up early points against PNG and Uganda before the tougher Group C challenges in the shape of New Zealand and Afghanistan.
West Indies' only previous meeting in an official international fixture against Papua New Guinea was at the 2018 qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe for the 2019 50-over-side World Cup.
Jason Holder's unbeaten 99 guided the Caribbean team to a six-wicket win in Harare.
West Indies captain Powell said after Sunday's game: "Credit to PNG, their plans were simple and they played good cricket. It's important to start well and that's what we did.
"We gave them 10-15 runs too much and we will look to tighten up when bowling. They showed intent and played smartly.
"Our team since I became captain we have played together as a group and we have enjoyed it, hopefully we can show that. Roston Chase bowled well and then came in with the innings that we needed. We weren't quite at our best, we were 60 per cent there."
All-rounder Chase said: "I'm very pleased. It is always good to start the tournament with a win and I'm glad I was able to do that for the team.
"I knew from the bowling innings it was always hard for new batters. I just gave myself the best chance and backed my skills that once I got in I could get the ball away.
"I have been putting in a lot of hard work so I just backed that. I have the confidence to bring it out in games and it is working out for me.
"PNG are not an A-list team but they deserve to be here and we're not underestimating anyone. We treated them like an India or Australia but we probably lacked a bit of intensity at the start."
"We are really happy with the way we fought. We got wickets in key moments and I'm really happy with the effort from the bowlers.
"It's an opportunity and a challenge we look forward to. We try to play the best cricket against the best players. The effort was really good and we need to take that effort and energy into the game against Sri Lanka."
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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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