Saudi giants Al Hilal land in Abu Dhabi for Fifa Club World Cup - in pictures

Saudi Arabia giants Al Hilal arrived in the UAE for the Fifa Club World Cup on Friday, looking to become the first Asian representatives in history to win the tournament.

The tournament started on Thursday and features five continental champions - Al Hilal (AFC), Monterrey (Concacaf), Al Ahly (CAF) and Chelsea (Uefa) - as well as AS Pirae - the Tahiti league champions, representing the OFC - and last year's Adnoc Pro League winners Al Jazira.

Having finished fourth in the 2019 edition, Al Hilal will become the first two-time Saudi Arabia representatives at the Club World Cup, with domestic rivals Al Nassr and Al-Ittihad the kingdom's other two previous competitors.

Al Hilal will face Al Jazira on Sunday following the UAE champions’ comfortable opening match victory against AS Pirae. Al Jazira overpowered Pirae 4-1 on Thursday after scoring three times in the first half at Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium with goals from Zayed Al Ameri, Ahmed Al Hashmi and Milos Kosanovic.

The All-Arab clash kicks-off at 20:30 UAE time with the winner taking on Champions League winners Chelsea in the semi-finals three days later.

The other half of the draw gets underway on Saturday when Al Ahly face Monterey at the Al-Nahyan Stadium, which also hosts the first semi-final on Tuesday in a contest that will feature the winner of that game against Brazilian outfit Palmeiras.

The tournament concludes on Saturday, February 12, with the third-place playoff at the Al-Nahyan Stadium before the final gets underway at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium.

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.”

Saudi giants Al Hilal land in Abu Dhabi for Fifa Club World Cup - in pictures

Al Hilal face Al Jazira on Sunday with the winners of the match taking on Chelsea