Arsenal: Wenger ‘committed with integrity for as long as I am under contract’

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has not yet decided on his future, with his contract due to expire at the end of next season, the Frenchman said on Friday.

He denied any knowledge of British media reports that he would be offered a new deal.

The Times said on Friday that the club's American majority shareholder Stan Kroenke had prepared a new two-year deal.

"I don't know where the information has come from, you can treat that as an invention," Wenger told a news conference ahead of Sunday's final Premier League game at home to relegated Aston Villa.

• Also see: Can lightning really strike twice for Leicester City? Don't discount it, writes Greg Lea

The experienced Wenger, 66, who joined the north London club in 1996 and has led them to a top-four finish in every full season, indicated he would at least see out the remaining year of his contract.

“I am committed with integrity for as long as I am under contract,” he said. “I will see where I am personally and where the club stands.”

Asked if he had decided on his future, he replied: “No”.

Wenger acknowledged he had made mistakes in a disappointing season for Arsenal, who are likely to finish third behind champions Leicester City and local rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

They were top at the halfway point but their title challenge fell away and they lost in the first knockout round of the Champions League for the sixth successive season.

Spurs will guarantee finishing above Arsenal for the first time in 21 years with at least a draw at relegated Newcastle United on Sunday.

“It was a strange season and we finish disappointed,” Wenger said. “We had a chance to win the title and we are frustrated. I agree (I could have done better). I look at myself and what I could have done.”

Midfielders Mikel Arteta, Tomas Rosicky and Mathieu Flamini, “three big personalities”, are expected to leave the club, Wenger said, adding “one or two of them could play on Sunday”.

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Islamophobia definition

A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.

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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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COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Lamsa

Founder: Badr Ward

Launched: 2014

Employees: 60

Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: EdTech

Funding to date: $15 million

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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