Fifa president Gianni Infantino has said his controversial plan to expand the Fifa Club World Cup can play a key role in further developing the club game in Asia despite European opposition.
Infantino's desire to expand the tournament from seven teams to 24 when it is relaunched in 2021 has been opposed by the European Club Association (ECA), which has issued a boycott threat.
But the Swiss administrator told the Asian Football Confederation's annual congress on Saturday that the expansion can help further improve the club game in the 47-member regional body.
"We have been speaking again about how we can improve them and make them better and we have been deciding at the last Fifa Council to give birth to a new Fifa Club World Cup with 24 teams, including three Asian teams," Infantino said in his address to delegates.
"I witnessed the final of the Asian Champions League in Tehran and there are clubs of great tradition in Asia and it's important we foster them and it's important we give them the possibility to shine on the world stage.
"That's why it's important to continue to develop our competitions, for example, with the new Club World Cup."
The reconfigured Club World Cup, which would be played once every four years, would feature eight clubs from Europe, six from South America as well as three each from Asia, Africa and Concacaf - which covers North and Central America nations plus those in the Caribbean - and one from Oceania.
Asian clubs have featured in the tournament since it was created in 2000, with two clubs from the continent - Kashima Antlers from Japan in 2016 and UAE champions Al Ain last year - reaching the final. Both lost to Spanish giants Real Madrid.
48-team World Cup in 2022 'on the table'
Infantino also reiterated his desire to further investigate expanding the 2022 World Cup finals to 48 teams and asking current hosts Qatar to share the tournament with neighbouring nations.
"We have an additional topic on the table that we will bring, maybe, to the Fifa congress as well on June 5 in Paris," he said.
"And the question on the table is the question on the subject of whether we think we can already increase the number of teams participating at the World Cup from 32 to 48.
"The results of the summit has been very clear, 90 per cent of the associations would like to move to 48 teams because, of course, it boosts football development all over the world if we have 16 more countries participating in a World Cup and we are looking and analysing that with our partners in Qatar.
"Sharing a few games with a few of the neighbouring countries is, of course, an option as well to make it a true World Cup for the world and for the whole Gulf region.
"It's something to discuss, something to think about and something we are working on with Qatar and together with all of you and, of course, it would be a nice achievement if the first World Cup with 48 teams would be played in Asia."
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.”
