Legendary Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon announced his retirement from football on Wednesday after 28 incredibly successful years for club and country.
Buffon, who in 2006 lifted the World Cup, won 10 Serie A titles with Juventus and a Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain.
The 45-year-old enjoyed most success at Juventus but ended his stellar career back where it all started at Parma.
"That's all folks! You gave me everything. I gave you everything. We did it together," Buffon said in a statement.
Buffon is the most capped goalkeeper in history, having played 176 times for Italy. Widely regarded as one of the greatest keepers of all time, he ended his career at Parma in the Italian second tier, having struggled with injuries in his final season.
"We would like to thank you once again: It is one of those moments we will remember in the history of football," Juventus said in a statement.
"You were not only the best, you did more than that, you became THE goalkeeper."
It was at Parma that he won his only European club trophy - the 1999 UEFA Cup (now the Europa League) - but retires without a Champions League winners medal. He lost three times in the final with Juventus.
Parma paid tribute to him saying he is "a man, a champion, a captain for the club and the city."
"Over the course of his illustrious career, Gigi was unequalled, in his abilities, an implacable determination and an unshakable passion both on the pitch and off it," said Parma owner Kyle Krause.
He also won a Ligue 1 crown with PSG in the 2018/19 season before he returned to Juventus for two more years.
Kylian Mbappe took to social media to pay tribute to Buffon, describing him as "a golden man".
"It was a huge honour for me to have the chance to rub shoulders with you and cross paths with you in your legendary career," he wrote.
"You are a golden man who gave me precious advice that I will keep with me for the rest of my life.
"Happy travels and above all THANK YOU."
Buffon retired from international football in 2018 after Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup in Russia.
"Time has been called on what is simply an exceptional career, an exceptional man and one of the world's most celebrated players," Serie A said in a post.
"You've been unique. And you always will be. I can't even find the words to describe what you've been, what you taught me, what you gave me. Thanks, my friend," Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci wrote on Instagram.
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PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
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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.”
Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000
Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
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