• Christian Eriksen, centre, celebrates after scoring the opening goal for Inter Milan in their 2-0 Serie A win against Crotone at the Ezio Scida Stadium on Saturday, May 1. AFP
    Christian Eriksen, centre, celebrates after scoring the opening goal for Inter Milan in their 2-0 Serie A win against Crotone at the Ezio Scida Stadium on Saturday, May 1. AFP
  • Inter Milan manager Antonio Conte. AFP
    Inter Milan manager Antonio Conte. AFP
  • Romelu Lukaku scores for Inter but the goal is disallowed for offside. EPA
    Romelu Lukaku scores for Inter but the goal is disallowed for offside. EPA
  • Christian Eriksen scores for Inter. Getty
    Christian Eriksen scores for Inter. Getty
  • Achraf Hakimi celebrates his injury-time goal at Crotone. Reuters
    Achraf Hakimi celebrates his injury-time goal at Crotone. Reuters
  • Inter's Lautaro Martinez heads towards goal. Getty
    Inter's Lautaro Martinez heads towards goal. Getty
  • Inter attacker Romelu Lukaku under pressure from Crotone's Vladimir Golinec. AP
    Inter attacker Romelu Lukaku under pressure from Crotone's Vladimir Golinec. AP
  • Inter Milan's Christian Eriksen celebrates with Nicolo Barella after scoring their first goal. Reuters
    Inter Milan's Christian Eriksen celebrates with Nicolo Barella after scoring their first goal. Reuters
  • Inter's Romelu Lukaku watches his header hit the post. Getty
    Inter's Romelu Lukaku watches his header hit the post. Getty
  • Inter Milan's Achraf Hakimi scores their second goal. Reuters
    Inter Milan's Achraf Hakimi scores their second goal. Reuters

Inter Milan on brink of Serie A title after win over Crotone


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Inter Milan's Christian Eriksen and Achraf Hakimi were on target in a 2-0 victory at Crotone on Saturday that moves the league leaders to within one point of securing the Serie A title and confirmed their hosts' relegation.

Inter are on 82 points, 14 clear of second-placed Atalanta, and need one point to guarantee a first league title since 2010 due to their superior head-to-head record over the Bergamo club.

However, they will be crowned champions on Sunday if Atalanta fail to win at Sassuolo.

Eriksen’s deflected effort four minutes after coming off the bench found the bottom corner in the 69th minute to make the breakthrough and Achraf Hakimi finished a counter-attack to double Inter's lead in stoppage time.

The goal condemned bottom side Crotone to relegation, as Serse Cosmi’s side have 18 points, 13 fewer than Cagliari in the safety zone in 17th place with four games remaining.

Inter were twice denied by the woodwork in the first half as Romelu Lukaku glanced a close-range header off the upright before a Lautaro Martinez shot struck the foot of the post.

Conte turned to his bench in the 65th minute to inject some life into his side's attack with a positive triple change, introducing Eriksen, winger Ivan Perisic and striker Alexis Sanchez.

The move immediately paid off as Lukaku laid a pass into the path of Eriksen four minutes later and the Dane’s powerful shot took a deflection on its way into the net.

Lukaku’s involvement made him the first player to score 20 or more goals and provide at least 10 assists in a single Serie A season since OPTA started collecting the data in 2004/05.

Perisic came close to extending the lead with a curling shot and the Croatian then set up Lukaku but the Belgian's effort was disallowed for offside.

Hakimi made sure of the points late on by sliding a neat finish under goalkeeper Alex Cordaz to complete a sweeping counter-attack as Inter moved closer to the title.

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

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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.”

Quick pearls of wisdom

Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”

Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.” 

 

 

Babumoshai Bandookbaaz

Director: Kushan Nandy

Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Jatin Goswami

Three stars

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