Mickey Arthur calls on Pakistan to toughen up after 'highly disappointing' Test series defeat to New Zealand

Disgruntled coach Mickey Arthur demanded his players toughen up and seize key moments in Test matches after sloppy batting handed New Zealand an away series win over Pakistan for the first time in 49 years.

New Zealand pulled off a come-from-behind 123-run victory in the third and final Test in Abu Dhabi on Friday to end their long wait for a 2-1 series win.

Pakistan had dismissed the Kiwis for 153 in the first innings of the first Test in Abu Dhabi only to lose by a narrow four-run margin.

Pakistan bounced back by winning the second Test in Dubai by an innings and four runs but again failed to build a sizeable lead in the first innings of the third Test, which Arthur believes cost them the series.

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"We missed opportunities and despite winning most of the sessions in the two losses we could not grab the moments to force a win," Pakistan coach Arthur told AFP.

"It was our series to win but we ended up as the losing side and that's highly disappointing.

"We have to have a look at our batting on the last day and that is tough in the UAE."

Pakistan lost all 10 wickets on the final day in both the defeats. They have now lost all 10 wickets on the final day six times since Arthur joined in May 2016.

Apart from the three occasions in Abu Dhabi - against Sri Lanka last year and twice against New Zealand in this series - they also collapsed at Birmingham, Hamilton and Melbourne - all in 2016.

Arthur said he backs his players, especially under-fire senior batsmen Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq.

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"The quality is there as they are the best players in Pakistan who are working very very hard and I back them to the hilt," he said.

"But we need to be tougher in the crucial moments and that comes to us grabbing moments and being tough and we could not do this in this series which is disappointing.

"I will defend Asad and Azhar to the hilt. Asad is a wonderful player. I rate him very highly and I still feel his best days are ahead of him."

Arthur now hopes Pakistan can do well in South Africa, a country where they have won only two Tests and were thrashed 3-0 on their last tour in 2013.

"I reckon we can go to South Africa and do well," said Arthur. "I believe and trust in these players, we have got some very talented cricketers and some good young players.

"We need to nail down our good positions which we are not doing and that's the problem area."

The first of three Tests starts in Centurion from December 26.

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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.”