Bert van Marwijk says he has had a “good feeling” about the UAE national team since his return as manager, as preparations continue for the resumption of World Cup qualification in June.
The Dutchman is enjoying his second stint with the side having reprised the role in December by succeeding Jorge Luis Pinto. It marked almost a full year to the day after his first spell in charged ended.
Van Marwijk, 68, is currently overseeing his third training camp since his reappointment, with this summer’s rescheduled World Cup qualifiers the focus. The latest get-together concludes on Monday with a friendly against India.
Asked on Saturday at the Zabeel Stadium what has pleased him most about the UAE squad since his return, Van Marwijk said: “I think they have improved. Because we worked with a lot of young players and I saw that they were physically stronger and they have gotten better. It’s given me a good feeling.”
Earlier this month, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) decided that all Group G's remaining fixtures would be staged in Dubai from June 3-15, to help negate travel restrictions put in place because of the pandemic.
Currently fourth in the five-team group, the UAE have four matches to play compared to each of the other sides’ three. They sit five points off leaders Vietnam, whom they face in the final qualifier on June 15.
Strangely, given the ongoing impact of the pandemic, Van Marwijk finds the UAE in exactly the same position as when he left in December 2019. The qualifiers have been repeatedly postponed, with the national team slated until last month to have a double-header this week against Malaysia and Indonesia. The Football Association has since won the right to host all eight outstanding games in Group G in June as the AFC opted for centralised venues.
Only the top team in each group are guaranteed to progress to the third round of qualification, although the four best runners-up advance also.
“We know our opponents because we played them one time already,” Van Marwijk said. “Originally we were to have three games at home, now we have four. So I think we have a good chance, because we know the opponents, we know how to play against them.
“And, if everybody stays fit … I cannot guarantee anything, but I think we have a good chance to qualify for the next round.”
Even so, Van Marwijk acknowledged the challenge provided by playing so many matches in such a short space of time. The UAE, set to gather for their final pre-qualifying camp on May 15 or 16, restart their campaign against Malaysia on June 3, then take on Thailand four days later and Indonesia on June 11 before meeting Vietnam.
“It’s very difficult, but I cannot change it. I have to deal with it,” Van Marwijk said. “We have already spoken about it with the whole staff and we will do everything as professional as possible. We will also invite a few people I know who are specialists in these things.
“Because our opponents play three matches in the same time, so it’s playing and recovering, playing and recovering. And then the climate. So we have to think very professionally and we will do that.”
Van Marwijk thanked the FA for allowing the national team time together for the trio of camps thus far this year, but said he did not envisage playing many friendlies in May in the build-up to the qualifiers. He said he prefers instead to use the time to work on playing style and tactics.
The former Netherlands and Saudi Arabia manager, a World Cup runner-up with his homeland in 2010 and mastermind of Saudi’s qualification to the 2018 finals, was however reluctant to be drawn on his decision once more not to select former captain Ismail Matar in his squad.
“I will not answer questions regarding why I nominate a player, yes or no,” Van Marwijk said. “I’m building a new team and in the new team are a lot of young players. I’m satisfied with the players I have now and I will work together with them hopefully for a long time.”
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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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