World champion Max Verstappen set the pace as he completed a double top in Friday's practice for this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix.
The 24-year-old Dutchman, who will start his 150th Formula One race on Sunday, clocked a best lap time of one minute and 14.127 seconds in the second session, having been quickest in the opening period in his Red Bull.
Carlos Sainz was third-quickest behind Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc and ahead of resurgent four-time champion Sebastian Vettel of Aston Martin and two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Alpine.
Pierre Gasly improved to take sixth place for AlphaTauri ahead of Mercedes' George Russell, Lando Norris and his McLaren teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
Esteban Ocon was 10th in the second Alpine ahead of a strangely off-colour Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull, local hope Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Mercedes.
Hamilton appeared to be unhappy with the experimental set-up of his car and complained it was "undriveable" on a weekend when the team's chief technical officer James Allison was at the track to help Mercedes recover from a disappointing start to the season.
Blighted by performance problems, notably with "porpoising" and bouncing, the team had chosen to try some radical set-up ideas in a bid to solve their problems.
Hamilton and Russell were seen in discussions with their team at the back of the pits while the floor of Hamilton's car was being changed.
The earlier opening session had seen notably less evidence of the notorious bouncing that had plagued many teams and drivers at last weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but it had clearly not gone away.
Following the FIA's statement of intent on Thursday to intervene in a bid to remove the phenomenon from the sport, on safety and medical grounds, and to protect the drivers, there had been fevered paddock debate, but little else.
Russell had compared the plans as little more than "using a sticking plaster", Hamilton had welcomed quick action and Verstappen had rejected the idea of any mid-season change to the rules.
Sainz complained of heavy bouncing in his Ferrari on the straight shortly before teammate Leclerc improved to within two-tenths of Verstappen before the Dutchman extended his advantage to half a second.
Perez, whose surge of form and results since winning in Monaco has lifted him into contention, was unable to find the speed to match Verstappen and struggled with his set-up.
Having out-qualified him at both the Monaco and Azerbaijan events, the Mexican was hoping to keep the upper hand in pursuit of his second win of the season.
Leclerc, however, appeared to have found his groove and closed within 0.081 seconds of Verstappen's 1:14.127 lap in his Ferrari, powered by a rebuilt engine following the failure of his unit in Baku.
Verstappen looked to be in supreme form and control.
Told by his team to expect heavy rain arriving, around 10 minutes after the session, he was succinct in replying, "that's lovely".
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.”
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tottenham 0-1 Ajax, Tuesday
Second leg
Ajax v Tottenham, Wednesday, May 8, 11pm
Game is on BeIN Sports
