Louis van Gaal leaves Gregory Van der Wiel behind

Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal on Tuesday unveiled his provisional 30-man World Cup squad, with Paris Saint-Germain right-back Gregory Van der Wiel a notable absentee.

Van Gaal has decided against taking a risk with a player who has been suffering with tendinitis in recent weeks.

The absence of the 26-year-old means only eight members of the 30-man squad featured at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, when the Netherlands lost to Spain in the final.

Goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg and defenders John Heitinga and Joris Mathijsen are also missing but Wesley Sneijder is there, despite Van Gaal recently expressing doubts as to the condition of the Galatasaray playmaker.

Seven of the 30-man list come from Dutch championship runners-up Feyenoord.

The Netherlands will come up against reigning world champions Spain, Chile and Australia in Group B in Brazil and will face Spain in their opening game in Salvador on June 13.

Provisional Netherlands World Cup squad

Goalkeepers: Jasper Cillessen (Ajax), Tim Krul (Newcastle United), Michel Vorm (Swansea City), Jeroen Zoet (PSV Eindhoven)

Defenders: Patrick van Aanholt (Vitesse Arnhem), Daley Blind (Ajax), Daryl Janmaat, Terence Kongolo, Bruno Martins Indi (all Feyenoord), Karim Rekik (PSV Eindhoven), Joël Veltman (Ajax), Paul Verhaegh (Augsburg), Ron Vlaar (Aston Villa), Stefan De Vrij (Feyenoord).

Midfielders: Jordy Clasie (Feyenoord), Leroy Fer (Norwich City), Jonathan De Guzman (Swansea City), Nigel de Jong (AC Milan), Wesley Sneijder (Galatasaray), Tonny Vilhena (Feyenoord), Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg), Georginio Wijnaldum (PSV Eindhoven).

Forwards: Jean-Paul Boëtius (Feyenoord), Memphis Depay (PSV Eindhoven), Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke), Dirk Kuijt (Fenerbahçe), Jeremain Lens (Dynamo Kiev), Robin van Persie (Manchester United), Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich), Quincy Promes (Twente).

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.”

How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?

The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg

Louis van Gaal leaves Gregory Van der Wiel behind

Louis van Gaal' Netherlands World Cup squad does not include the PSG back, while Wesley Sneijder is in for now among the 30 men on the Dutch provisional squad.

How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?