MANCHESTER, United Kingdom // Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini believes that his side should fear no team in Europe after they crushed CSKA Moscow 5-2 to reach the Champions League last 16.
Having demolished Norwich City 7-0 in the Premier League on Saturday, City have now scored 12 goals in their last two matches.
Alvaro Negredo led the charge against CSKA on Tuesday with a hat-trick, while Sergio Aguero claimed a brace as City qualified for the knockout rounds after successive group-stage exits in 2011 and 2012.
Asked if City could beat any team in the competition, Pellegrini replied: “I think so. But at this level, every team can beat us also.
“There are the most important teams in Europe, the most important teams in Spain, in Italy, in France. I think we have a strong squad and we will see where we can go in this Champions League.”
After hosting Group D’s bottom side Viktoria Pilsen on November 27, City will conclude the group phase away to defending champions and pool leaders Bayern Munich.
Bayern currently lead City by three points, but Pellegrini believes that regardless of the final standings, no team will relish a trip to the Etihad Stadium in the round of 16.
“The minimum target was to qualify for the next round, but it wasn’t our only target,” he said.
“We must continue in Europe. We will see the draw, because we don’t know with whom we are going to play in February, but I am sure that the team we play against will not be very happy to play against us.”
CSKA will play host to Bayern in their next game with part of their stadium closed as a punishment for the racist chanting to which City midfielder Yaya Toure was subjected when he played there two weeks ago.
Tuesday’s reverse fixture passed off without off-field incident and afterwards, Toure made a pointed reference to the conduct of his side’s supporters.
“We must say thank you to the fans today,” said the Ivorian. “They showed the fans of CSKA how to support a team.”
When CSKA coach Leonid Slutsky was asked in his post-game press conference whether anyone from his club had spoken to Toure about the incidents in Moscow, he replied: “I don’t know.”
Pellegrini urged CSKA’s supporters to learn their lessons from the affair.
“I think maybe if the fans of CSKA will have another way to support their team, I think that’s the better way,” he said.
“They have to have another way to support their team. UEFA made the thing (punishment) that they had to do and it’s better to finish with that thing.”
While Negredo and Aguero took most of the plaudits with their goals, Pellegrini was also eager to underline the contributions of attacking midfielders Samir Nasri and David Silva, who tormented CSKA throughout.
“Both of them, Silva and Nasri, are two very important creative midfielders and they play really well,” said the Chilean.
“I think also that the way we are playing, giving both of them the freedom to play where they want, with all the movement, is also important for both of them.
“For the two strikers, with the way we play, trying to always be in the opposite side (half), it allows both of them to play very well with the ball at their feet. It’s a mix of all.”
Slutsky, whose side can no longer qualify for the last 16, attributed Tuesday’s result to his own players’ mistakes and said he had been more impressed by Bayern, who beat CSKA 3-0 in their opening group game.
“Obviously we were playing against players of a high level, but the mistakes were our own,” said Slutsky, whose side scored twice through Seydou Doumbia.
“We lost because of ourselves, whereas in Bavaria (against Bayern Munich) it was mostly down to the level of the other side.”
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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.”
