Spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel took all 10 wickets on Saturday as India overpowered England inside three days to win the fourth Test and clinch the series 3-1.
India's 13th consecutive series triumph at home also secured their spot in the World Test Championship final against New Zealand in June.
After the innings and 25-run victory in Ahmedabad, India captain Virat Kohli hailed the way his side came back from a game down to dominate the series, completing three wins in only nine of the 15 days available.
"The comeback in Chennai [the second Test] pleased me the most. The first game was an aberration and England outplayed us," Kohli said.
"We bowled and fielded with more intensity and so the comeback was very heartening. Our bench strength is extremely strong and that's a good sign for Indian cricket.
“We are obviously happy to win the series, but there are always things to improve,” Kohli added. “Now, we can accept and admit that we are in the WTC final. It did become a bit of distraction for us in New Zealand, but we took it one game at a time since.”
Ashwin bowled Dan Lawrence for 50 and ended England's second innings on 135 to seal the match at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Ashwin, who was named player of the series, led the bowling chart with 32 wickets followed by Patel, who played one game fewer, on 27. England spinner Jack Leach was third with 18 scalps.
Kohli praised Rohit Sharma for his 161 which proved decisive in the second Test in Chennai and Ashwin, who he described as India's "most bankable player over the years".
This win was set up by wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, who made 101 on day two, and Washington Sundar, who hit an unbeaten 96 as India made a commanding 365.
Pant scored his third Test ton in a 113-run stand with Sundar to lift India from a precarious 146-6 in response to England's first innings of 205.
India coach Ravi Shastri singled out Pant's performance with the bat and behind the wickets as "magnificent".
"He was told in no uncertain terms that he has got to respect the game a little more. He's got to lose a bit of weight and work hard on his keeping," said Shastri.
"Yesterday's innings was the best counter-attacking innings I have seen in India. He built a partnership with Rohit playing against his nature – to do that is not easy."
Sundar kept up the attack as the final three wickets fell on Saturday morning but ran out of partners and remained four shy of his century.
England lost early and regular wickets to be dismissed in 54.5 overs.
Ashwin struck twice on successive balls to send back Zak Crawley for five and Jonny Bairstow for nought. It was Bairstow's third duck in four innings.
Patel got opener Dom Sibley for three and then Ben Stokes for two after the left-hand batsman miscued a sweep and was caught at leg gully by Kohli.
Ashwin took the prized scalp of skipper Joe Root for 30 to virtually end England's hopes. The visitors have scored more than 200 just once in their last six innings.
England fast bowler James Anderson made an impression with his three wickets and 14 maidens in 25 overs.
Root topped the batting chart with 368 runs, including 218 in the opening Test that England won convincingly.
“The last three games have been testing for us but credit to India, they’ve outplayed us,” England skipper Root said. “We’ve got to improve individually and become a better side for this experience … and good luck to them in the final.”
The two teams now head into five Twenty20 internationals starting March 12 at the same venue in Ahmedabad.
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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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