New York City FC player Ben Sweat at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. Courtesy New York City FC
New York City FC player Ben Sweat at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. Courtesy New York City FC

Football

New York City FC to face Copenhagen and AIK as part of pre-season in Abu Dhabi

MLS club will arrive in the capital on January 29, with matches against the two Scandinavian sides taking place on February 3 and 8

The National

January 20, 2019

New York City FC (NYCFC) will begin their preparations for the 2019 season in Abu Dhabi, the Major League Soccer club announced on Sunday.

NYCFC are scheduled to arrive in the UAE capital on January 29 and will contest pre-season friendlies against Danish side FC Copenhagen on February 3, and Swedish champions AIK on February 8.

“This preseason will challenge our team in many different ways," NYCFC sporting director Claudio Reyna said. "We’ll experience different locations, venues and teams that will push us physically, mentally and tactically. We couldn’t be more excited to begin our pre-season in Abu Dhabi.”

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Last season, NYCFC finished third in the Eastern Conference, and reached the MLS Cup playoff semi-finals before going down to eventual MLS Cup champions Atlanta United.

They will face stiff tests in Abu Dhabi from 12-time Danish champions Copenhagen - the most successful team in Danish football history who have competed in either the Uefa Champions League or Europa League every year since 2001.

Swedish champions AIK have also won their domestic league 12 times, winning their most recent title last season. AIK are also regulars in elite European competitions, and have entered the first round of qualifying for the 2019/20 Champions League.

“FC Copenhagen and AIK will provide a challenging set of matches against two teams that regularly compete in the Champions League and Europa League," NYCFC manager Domènec Torrent said.

"Our players will benefit greatly from these tests early on in the preseason as we look to mold the identity of our team heading into the 2019 season.”

NYCFC is majority owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s City Football Group, which also owns Premier League champions Manchester City and A-League club Melbourne City.

The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol

Power: 154bhp

Torque: 250Nm

Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option 

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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.”

In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent