Gareth Southgate admitted he was impressed with Jack Grealish as the England winger sparkled and Harry Maguire enjoyed a moment of redemption in Thursday's 3-0 friendly win against Ireland.
After being sent off in his previous England appearance against Denmark, Maguire captained his country for the first time and scored the opening goal at Wembley.
Jadon Sancho bagged England's second goal before the interval and Dominic Calvert-Lewin made it three with a second-half penalty.
That was enough to seal England's first success against the Republic since 1985.
Grealish, starting against the country he represented at youth level, caught the eye on the left flank as he justified the constant calls from fans and pundits for the Aston Villa star to be given a sustained run in the team.
"The two players in those roles, Jadon and Jack, they've got the freedom to go either side of the pitch and try to create overloads," Southgate said.
"I thought at times both of them did that really well. Of course, as soon as they are turned and running at people, they are a real problem for the opponent."
There was a landmark moment for Jude Bellingham, 17, who became the third-youngest player to represent England when the Borussia Dortmund midfielder came on for Mason Mount in the 73rd minute.
Bellingham, who left Birmingham to join Dortmund this year, is behind only Theo Walcott and Wayne Rooney in the list of England's youngest players.
He is one for the future, but Southgate would have been more encouraged by the way his understudies impressed after he rested Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson before the Nations League games against Belgium on Sunday and Iceland next Wednesday.
"I was very pleased with the way the boys played," Southgate said.
"A lot of young players, a lot of inexperienced players, we used the ball very well, created a lot of chances, could have been more comfortable if we'd taken some of those chances but overall very pleased.
"We were a bit slow at the start but that's understandable. It's not a team that have had a lot of time to work together.
"The longer they went on, some of the interplay, some of the play between our attacking 10s and our wingbacks in particular was very good."
Southgate had urged England to put the focus back on football after Clarke's self-inflicted demise triggered a "turbulent week" and his team were always in control in their first meeting with the Republic since 2015.
Maguire put England ahead in the 18th minute when Harry Winks crossed back into the area and the defender rose above Shane Duffy to head past Darren Randolph for his second goal in an England shirt.
Sancho has been struggling to find his peak form for Borussia Dortmund this season but the winger showed his quality to double England's lead in the 31st minute.
Grealish teed him up on the left side of the Ireland area and Sancho shifted the ball on to his right foot before curling a low strike past Randolph.
Bukayo Saka won a penalty in the 56th minute when he wriggled past Cyrus Christie, who responded with a clear trip on the Arsenal wingback.
Everton striker Calvert-Lewin stroked the spot kick high into the roof of the net for his second England goal.
Manchester United's Dean Henderson had come on for his England debut at half-time, replacing Nick Pope in goal, but he was barely tested as the hosts cruised to the final whistle.
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Company: Justmop.com
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Company name: Suraasa
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Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
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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.”
Captain Marvel
Director: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn
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