Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said he was "delighted" to commit his future to the Premier League club after signing a new three-year contract on Saturday.
Solskjaer, who took over from Jose Mourinho in 2018, will stay at Old Trafford until at least 2024, with the option of an extra year.
"Everyone knows the feeling I have for this club, and I am delighted to have signed this new contract," Solskjaer told the club website. "It is an exciting time for Manchester United, we have built a squad with a good balance of youth and experienced players that are hungry for success."
Solskjaer, 48, led United to a runner-up finish in the Premier League last season while also reaching the Europa League final, which they lost to Villarreal on penalties.
Solskjaer's new contract comes the same week as United completed a deal for England winger Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund, and the Norwegian has set his sights on guiding the club into a bright future.
"I have a fantastic coaching team around me, and we are all ready to take that next step on our journey," he said. "Manchester United wants to be winning the biggest and best trophies and that's what we are all striving for. We have improved, both on and off the pitch, and that will continue over the coming seasons."
The former United striker initially took over on an interim basis in December 2018 following the dismissal of Mourinho, before earning the job on a permanent basis with a fine run of results.
After a rocky start in the full-time position, progress has largely been steady in his two full seasons in charge, following up a third-placed finish in 2019-20 with a runners-up spot last season when they finished 12 points behind neighbours Manchester City.
However, the acquisition of Sancho suggests that the United board are prepared to back Solskjaer with the players he needs to make a realistic bid for the title.
"Ole and his staff have worked tirelessly putting the foundations in place for long-term success on the pitch," said chief executive Ed Woodward.
"The results of that have become increasingly visible over the past two seasons and we are all looking forward to seeing this exciting team develop further in the years ahead.
"What is especially pleasing is the way this progress has been achieved with a blend of young, homegrown talent and top-class recruits, playing attacking football in the best traditions of Manchester United.
"We are more confident than ever that, under Ole's leadership, we are heading in the right direction."
Manchester United begin the new season at home against Leeds United on August 14.
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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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