Adrien Rabiot, centre, celebrates after scoring to put Juventus 3-2 ahead against Sampdoria. EPA
Adrien Rabiot, centre, celebrates after scoring to put Juventus 3-2 ahead against Sampdoria. EPA
Adrien Rabiot, centre, celebrates after scoring to put Juventus 3-2 ahead against Sampdoria. EPA
Adrien Rabiot, centre, celebrates after scoring to put Juventus 3-2 ahead against Sampdoria. EPA

Sport

Football

Rabiot fires Europe-chasing Juventus past Sampdoria as Roma lose without Mourinho

France midfielder nets brace in 4-2 win over Sampdoria while Roma's top-four hopes dented after 4-3 loss to Sassuolo

The National

March 13, 2023

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Adrien Rabiot's brace in a 4-2 win over lowly Sampdoria ensured Juventus maintained their push for European football.

The France midfielder put Juve ahead with a first-half header and then smashed them back in front in the 64th minute after Samp had stunned the home crowd by levelling with two rapid-fire goals from Tommaso Augello and Filip Djuricic.

Youngster Matias Soule nodded home in stoppage time to make the scoreline more flattering against Samp who are bottom and 12 points from safety.

Rabiot almost left Juve in the summer but has become a key figure in Massimiliano Allegri's team, his double taking his Serie A tally to seven and moving the Turin giants to within four points of the European places.

Juventus, in seventh on 38 points, are contesting a 15-point penalty for illicit transfer activity and as it stands they would be second should their appeal be successful.

They would still be a whopping 15 points behind champions-elect Napoli but given the inconsistent form of Serie A's other top clubs they would be a strong bet to reach next season's Champions League.

Sassuolo's Armand Lauriente celebrates after scoring against Roma. EPA
Sassuolo's Armand Lauriente celebrates after scoring against Roma. EPA

Roma could have moved level on points with second-placed Inter Milan, who lost at struggling Spezia on Friday, but were stunned 4-3 by Sassuolo thanks to an Armand Lauriente double, Domenico Berardi's penalty and Andrea Pinamonti's neat finish with 15 minutes remaining.

Roma were without the suspended Jose Mourinho and had to play the entire second half a man down after Marash Kumbulla was sent off for kicking Berardi and conceding the spot-kick from which the Italy international gave Sassuolo a 3-1 half-time lead.

Mourinho's team, who netted through Nicola Zalewski, substitute Paulo Dybala and Georginio Wijnaldum, are now fifth, level on 47 points with fourth-placed AC Milan but below the champions by virtue of having played a game more.

There is little chance of Roma moving back into the top four as Milan host Salernitana on Monday night.

Mourinho was absent after his two-match ban for being sent off during Roma's defeat at Cremonese earlier this month was confirmed.

Earlier, Verona's survival bid stalled after a 1-1 draw with Monza left them five points from 17th-placed Spezia and safety.

Simone Verdi's 51st-minute opener for the hosts was almost immediately cancelled out by Stefano Sensi's tap-in from Carlos Augusto's pull-back.

Verona were saved from defeat when their former star Gianluca Caprari was denied a winner for Monza after Andrea Petagna was millimetres offside in the build-up.

Fiorentina beat bottom team Cremonese 2-0 to win their fifth straight match in all competitions, while Torino are a point behind Juve after a 2-0 win at Lecce.

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.”

COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: BorrowMe (BorrowMe.com)

Date started: August 2021

Founder: Nour Sabri

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: E-commerce / Marketplace

Size: Two employees

Funding stage: Seed investment

Initial investment: $200,000

Investors: Amr Manaa (director, PwC Middle East) 

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Updated: March 13, 2023, 7:28 AM
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