Inter Miami winger Lewis Morgan has hailed David Beckham's leadership during the coronavirus crisis.
Owner Beckham has seen his dream halted after Miami's debut season in Major League Soccer was stopped after just two games.
Last month, Miami altered the club's logo and separated their white herons, which are normally interlocked, to encourage social distancing.
And Morgan, who wears the No 7 shirt for Miami, believes former England captain Beckham is the perfect man to have in charge.
"He is very active, we see him around and he was the one who broke the news to us the league was going to be suspended," the Scotland international said.
"He's not a backseat owner, he wants to be involved and it has been his vision for so long and he wants to play a part in it.
"You don't get to where he is at without being able to control your emotions, he has waited so long to make this a reality so what's a little more time to make sure everyone is safe before they go back to work.
"We all want to be playing football but we have to abide by the rules and he has been great throughout.
"I remember him playing for [Real] Madrid, [AC] Milan, PSG and LA. I was very young when he was at Manchester United but he has such an iconic figure.
"It's quite surreal to be part of the same club as him but I'm here to be successful in my own right. All the owners are hands on and it's a special place."
Morgan was in Miami for just a number of weeks after his £400,000 (Dh1.8 million] move from Celtic – impressing in their opening two games – before MLS was stopped until May 10 at the earliest.
He is now self-isolating with girlfriend Heather and trying to do what he can to help.
Last month, Morgan joined team-mates Rodolfo Pizarro, Julian Carranza and Lee Nguyen to play in a Fifa tournament as part of Twitch's Stream Aid 2020.
It was to raise funds for the World Health Organization's Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund and Inter's event helped contribute to an overall total of £2.25million.
MLS stars are yet to join together and mirror those in the Premier League, who launched #PlayersTogether to raise funds for the NHS – partnering with NHS Charities Together (NHSCT) – on Wednesday.
They had been criticised by health secretary Matt Hancock for not taking pay cuts but Morgan, who played 31 times for Celtic and won the League Cup in December, believes any coordinated effort must be right.
"Players have shown a great desire to help out, everyone is in different situations and it is important everyone helps – but also the help goes to the right places," said the 23-year-old.
"Here the league is constantly talking to players and the players' association to make sure everyone is doing what they can.
"We've not got to the point where we're talking about as much as they have done back home but it's great to see players playing their part.
"It's tough to expect everyone to take whatever [criticism] gets thrown at them and accept it. People are in different situations –they might be helping others out, like family, and you have to tread lightly about it.
"It's not nice to see it happen back home. It's tough to put a blanket over everyone. It's important everyone works together to find a solution."
Community Shield info
Where, when and at what time Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday at 5pm (UAE time)
Arsenal line up (3-4-2-1) Petr Cech; Rob Holding, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal; Hector Bellerin, Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain; Alex Iwobi, Danny Welbeck; Alexandre Lacazette
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger
Chelsea line up (3-4-2-1) Thibaut Courtois; Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Gary Cahill; Victor Moses, Cesc Fabregas, N'Golo Kante, Marcos Alonso; Willian, Pedro; Michy Batshuayi
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte
Referee Bobby Madley
You Were Never Really Here
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Starring: Joaquim Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov
Four stars
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
NBA FINALS SO FAR
(Toronto lead 3-2 in best-of-seven series)
Game 1 Raptors 118 Warriors 109
Game 2 Raptors 104 Warriors 109
Game 3 Warriors 109 Raptors 123
Game 4 Warriors 92 Raptors 105
Game 5 Raptors 105 Warriors 106
Game 6 Thursday, at Oakland
Game 7 Sunday, at Toronto (if needed)
Take Me Apart
Kelela
(Warp)
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.”
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
Saturday results
Qatar beat Kuwait by 26 runs
Bahrain beat Maldives by six wickets
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by seven wickets
Monday fixtures
Maldives v Qatar
Saudi Arabia v Kuwait
Bahrain v UAE
* The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Andor
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Tony%20Gilroy%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDiego%20Luna%2C%20Genevieve%20O'Reilly%2C%20Alex%20Ferns%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%205%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
