Manchester United forced to cancel fixture after Stoke manager tests positive for Covid-19

Manchester United were forced to scrap a friendly against Stoke City at the last minute after learning that the Championship club's manager Michael O'Neill had tested positive for coronavirus.

Stoke had already travelled to United's Carrington training ground before the Tuesday match, a week before the Premier League restarts, was hastily called off.

A Stoke statement said: "Stoke City can confirm that manager Michael O'Neill has tested positive for the Covid-19 virus following the latest round of testing on Monday (June 8).

"O'Neill had tested negative in the previous five rounds of testing. He will now follow the relevant guidance and undergo a period of isolation, whilst continuing to be in regular virtual contact with his coaching staff and players."

O'Neill's assistant Billy McKinlay will take charge of first-team affairs during his absence.

O'Neill is in his first season in charge of Stoke, having taken over in November and helped steer the club towards safety after a dismal start to the campaign under Nathan Jones.

The 50-year-old stepped down from his role as Northern Ireland manager in April due to the shutdown.

Nobody from the Stoke travelling party interacted with anyone at Manchester United following their arrival at Carrington, with separate facilities having been made available at the complex.

Bruno Fernandes enjoying the training session as Manchester United prepare for their first game back at Tottenham. Getty
Andreas Pereira and Marcus Rashford in action during a first team training session. Getty
Brandon Williams of Manchester United in action. Getty
Harry Maguire and Jesse Lingard during a first team training session. Getty
Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Paul Pogba tussle for the ball. Getty
Odion Ighalo during a first team training session as Manchester United prepare for their first game back at Tottenham. Getty

Stoke are preparing to resume their season away to Reading on June 20, a day after Manchester United are due to travel to London to face Tottenham and former manager Jose Mourinho.

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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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Biography

Favourite drink: Must have karak chai and Chinese tea every day

Favourite non-Chinese food: Arabic sweets and Indian puri, small round bread of wheat flour

Favourite Chinese dish: Spicy boiled fish or anything cooked by her mother because of its flavour

Best vacation: Returning home to China

Music interests: Enjoys playing the zheng, a string musical instrument

Enjoys reading: Chinese novels, romantic comedies, reading up on business trends, government policy changes

Favourite book: Chairman Mao Zedong’s poems