ABU DHABI // Judging by the throng of people supporting Andy Sullivan throughout the DP World Tour Championship last November, he does not particularly want for fans.
The affable Englishman, 28, was one of the main attractions at the 2015 finale in Dubai, leading for much of the event before finally succumbing, by one shot, to world No 3 Rory McIlroy.
However, that did not deter ‘Sully’s Army’, the vociferous bunch of disciples who cheered on his every move. It turns out that group has long included Darren Clarke, whose relationship with Sullivan has developed across the past year or so, something that only strengthened these past few weeks.
The 2016 European Ryder Cup captain has seen plenty of his young peer up close, first as skipper at last week's EurAsia Cup, when Sullivan emerged with a 100 per cent record, and then while playing alongside each other during the first two days at this week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
Subsequently, the two have struck up quite the friendship, so much so that on Friday Sullivan had to put up with a bit of needle just to get through his second round. In fact, the banter with Clarke was very welcome, since Sullivan eased to a 5 under-par 67 to move to 10-under for the tournament. With that, he topped the leaderboard.
“We have both got a similar sense of humour and he just enjoys taking the mick out of the short, fat guy,” said the diminutive Sullivan.
Yet, despite being a little small in stature, Sullivan can still dish it out with the best of them. Clarke, 47, quickly found that out.
“He’s got ‘60’ on his ball and on the first tee I said ‘I didn’t realise you put your age on there’,” Sullivan joked. “We just try to have a bit of to-ing and fro-ing out there.”
Read more:
The National’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship live blog
Spieth and McIlroy struggle as Fowler finds putting stroke on Day 2 at Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship
‘Simply a new experience’: Bryson DeChambeau’s learning curve just got steeper in Abu Dhabi
Seeing as Clarke is the man with the European plan at September’s Ryder Cup, Sullivan better be mindful of how much ribbing he gives. Clarke, a pretty gregarious character himself, will be choosing the wild cards for Hazeltine, remember?
“I went a bit below the belt on one,” Sullivan conceded. “He said ‘don’t be expecting a pick now’.”
The way he is playing, Sullivan will not need it. At present, he is fourth on the European points list, and victory in Abu Dhabi would almost guarantee his seat on the plane to America.
Even with fog delaying play on Friday by almost three hours, Sullivan got off to a fast start at the National Course, birdieing the opening three holes. He concluded with three straight birdies, too, leaving Clarke with a perfect reminder of his ability.
“Darren knows what I’m capable of and I don’t think it was any surprise to him for me to go out there and do what I did today,” Sullivan said. “I don’t think it’s particularly imperative, but it always bodes well when you do it like that.”
Clarke certainly was impressed, although to be fair, that admiration stretches back quite some time. Sullivan was one of the stories of 2015, clinching his first professional victory in January and going on to win twice more. He finished the year eighth on the Race to Dubai.
Clarke has even likened Sullivan to Ian Woosnam, the 1991 Masters champion and former world No 1.
“He’s just a quality ball-striker,” the Northern Irishman said. “There’s lots of brilliant young kids out here, but there’s not many who move the ball both ways, and trajectory. So he does it all; that’s how he sees the game.
“I really enjoy it, because he’s a proper shot-maker. And combine that with the fact he’s a really, really good kid and that’s even better. He’s the total package.”
That extends, then, to his competitive edge. Sullivan may be one of the most genial guys on tour, but as he proved at the DP World Tour Championship against McIlroy, he is up for the challenge as well.
“Of course he is,” Clarke said. “He’s a professional golfer. He wants to play well, he wants to succeed. And we know he’s definitely moving down the right path at the moment.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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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.”
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
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Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Scores in brief:
Boost Defenders 205-5 in 20 overs
(Colin Ingram 84 not out, Cameron Delport 36, William Somerville 2-28)
bt Auckland Aces 170 for 5 in 20 overs
(Rob O’Donnell 67 not out, Kyle Abbott 3-21).
Leaderboard
63 - Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA)
64 - Rory McIlroy (NIR)
66 - Jon Rahm (ESP)
67 - Tom Lewis (ENG), Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)
68 - Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP), Marcus Kinhult (SWE)
69 - Justin Rose (ENG), Thomas Detry (BEL), Francesco Molinari (ITA), Danny Willett (ENG), Li Haotong (CHN), Matthias Schwab (AUT)
