Former France and Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier died on Monday at age 73.
RMC Sport and French sports daily L'Equipe said Houllier had died after having a heart operation in Paris.
RMC Sport said it is "saddened to learn of the death of Gerard Houllier, who passed away during the night, at the age of 73. Our thoughts are with all those close to him."
Houllier managed Liverpool for six years from 1998 and guided the Reds to a historic treble of FA Cup, League Cup and Uefa Cup in 2001.
"We are mourning the passing of our treble-winning manager, Gerard Houllier. The thoughts of everyone at Liverpool Football Club are with Gerard’s family and many friends," a message on Liverpool's Twitter account said.
He also coached at Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon in his homeland before his final managerial assignment in England with Aston Villa was terminated in 2011.
Former Liverpool striker Michael Owen, who scored two goals to win the 2001 FA Cup final against Arsenal when Houllier was in charge, was among many leading figures in English football to pay tribute to the Frenchman.
Owen wrote on Twitter: "Absolutely heartbroken to hear that my old boss, Gerard Houllier, has sadly passed away. A great manager and a genuinely caring man. #RIPBoss".
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said: "Absolutely devastated by the news about Gerard Houllier, I was in touch with him only last month to arrange him coming to Liverpool.
"Loved that man to bits, he changed me as a person & as a player & got @LFC back winning trophies. RIP Boss."
After an unheralded playing career in France's lower leagues, Houllier began coaching in 1973, earning his first big job with Lens before taking over at Paris Saint-Germain.
He became France's assistant coach in 1988 and then manager in 1992 but had a short, unsuccessful spell in charge.
He resigned after failing to take the team to the 1994 World Cup in the United States following shock home defeats by Israel and Bulgaria, losing the latter game, which they only needed to draw to qualify, 2-1 after a goal in added time.
Houllier initially arrived at Anfield in July 1998, joining the club as co-manager with Roy Evans.
Evans resigned on November 10, leaving Houllier in sole charge, from where he rebuilt a side that had been labelled the "Spice Boys" by UK media known as much for their lifestyles off the pitch as their skills on it.
Under the Frenchman's guidance the Reds became a more rounded unit which culminated in an unprecedented five trophies in 2001, with the Charity Shield and Uefa Super Cup also secured.
In October that year, Houllier underwent emergency heart surgery after falling ill on the bench during a Premier League fixture against Leeds United.
He returned to the dugout after five months, and with the help of assistant Phil Thompson, led the club to a second place finish in the 2001/02 season.
Houllier left Liverpool in 2004, having also overseen an overhaul of the club's youth system, being replaced by Rafa Benitez.
He returned to France to take over at perennial Ligue 1 champions Lyon, guiding them to back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007
In September 2008 Aston Villa appointed Houllier as manager after Martin O'Neill resigned the previous month.
However, Houllier's spell at Villa Park was cut short due to illness, forcing him to step down from his role after just nine months.
Former Villa and England striker Darren Bent wrote on Twitter: "R.I.P Boss, You will be missed. Could not speak highly enough of you, not just as a manager but as a person as well. Taught me to see things Differently. Condolences to the Houllier family."
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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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AWARDS
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Fight card
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- Kem Ljungquist (Denmark) beat Mourad Omar (Egypt) TKO
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- Callum Smith (UK) beat George Groves (UK) KO
