MILAN // Roberto Mancini underlined Inter Milan’s Champions League intentions after a hard-fought 1-1 derby draw with Milan on what was the former Manchester City manager’s return to Serie A after a six-year absence on Sunday.
“We will need some time, but our objective is to get back to winning as much as possible and quickly,” Mancini told reporters at the San Siro after the game. “We’re aiming for a third place finish.”
Mancini, who led the Serie A giants to seven trophies including three consecutive league titles from 2004 to 2008, was handed a San Siro baptism of fire on his first game back at Inter after replacing sacked Walter Mazzarri a fortnight ago.
Read more: Roberto Mancini’s Inter Milan return could not be much tougher – a San Siro derby with AC
On his previous spell at Inter, Mancini had won four, lost five and drawn one in the ‘Derby della Madonnina’ between the city rivals.
But after just five days working with a new tactical system, Inter had to settle for a share of the spoils in front of nearly 80,000 fans at the clubs’ shared ground. Milan remain seventh at 13 points behind leaders Juventus with Inter in ninth place a further point adrift.
French forward Jeremy Menez struck a superb opener for the hosts in the 23rd minute but Nigerian Joel Obi saved Mancini’s blushes when his drive from outside the area beat Rossoneri ‘keeper Diego Lopez down low in the 61st minute.
Inter, however, had missed two great chances through Mauro Icardi either side of their equaliser, leaving Mancini clutching his head in frustration.
Icardi was sent through on goal after a Sulley Muntari howler in the eighth minute but saw his attempted chip of Lopez stopped by the ‘keeper’s trailing leg.
Again, in the second half the Argentinian fired a half-volley off the crossbar from Fredy Guarin’s inviting ball into the area.
Mancini, who changed Inter’s 3-5-2 formation to a 4-3-3 for his first game in charge, did not point the finger of blame directly at Icardi but said Inter would have to “rectify” the errors that probably cost them a precious win.
“We can’t afford to miss goalscoring chances. Making mistakes at the start of the game changes the whole outlook for the rest of the game,” added the 49-year-old Italian.
“That is one of the several things we will be looking to rectify.”
Having been appointed during the international break and with several players still returning from injury, Mancini admitted he will require time to get his team in prime condition for their aim of a third-place finish.
But on his first game back at the helm, Mancini was satisfied with his players’ performance.
“We had a few problems because we have several players out injured who only returned to the squad recently. (Yann) M’Vila is still getting back to full fitness, as is Hernanes,” added Mancini.
“But I’m happy with how we played. It wasn’t easy with just five days working together trying to adapt to a new system after having worked a year and a half under a different one.
“Starting with the derby wasn’t the easiest thing. Obviously, it wasn’t a normal night. It’s been quite a hectic past two days.
“You have to rely on your instinct but it was great to come back to the San Siro and see it so full.
“We wanted to win, but in the end it was a fair result.”
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THREE
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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.
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“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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Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan Shinwari, Hassan Ali, Imad Wasim, Waqas Maqsood, Faheem Ashraf.
Newcastle United 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2
Tottenham (Alli 61'), Davies (70')
Red card Jonjo Shelvey (Newcastle)
