LEVERKUSEN, Germany // Rio Ferdinand wants Manchester United to book their place in the Champions League’s knock-out stages by beating Bayer Leverkusen away on Wednesday so they can focus on the Premier League.
United slipped to a disappointing 2-2 draw at Premier League new-boys Cardiff City on Sunday which left them sixth in the table and seven points adrift of leaders Arsenal.
David Moyes’s side are unbeaten in their last ten matches but the Cardiff draw cost them a top four place in the Premier League.
Now Ferdinand wants United to win at Leverkusen’s BayArena to confirm their progression in Europe, so they can return their focus on the Premier League until next year’s knock-out stages.
“We want to finish the job, get it done early so we can get back to the Premier League and have nothing else distracting us,” said Ferdinand.
“They’re a well-equipped team and it’s not going to be easy but we’re more than capable.”
Moyes’s United top Group A with eight points, just one ahead of hosts Leverkusen, and both sides would guarantee their place in the knock-out stages with a win.
Should Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk lose at home to Real Sociedad in the section’s other game, United and Leverkusen would progress with a draw.
“We’ve got a really important game coming up on Wednesday and we know we need to get our heads up and make sure that we qualify,” said United midfielder Tom Cleverley.
“It’s good we’ve got that game because you want to try and get a rhythm going and bounce back from a disappointing result.
“Wednesday can’t come quick enough for us.”
Dutch striker Robin van Persie (groin) and Nemanja Vidic (concussion) are both hoping to feature in Leverkusen after missing the Cardiff match.
Rafael da Silva (ankle), Shinji Kagawa (bruised foot) and Phil Jones (abductor) are all rated doubtful, while Michael Carrick is definitely out with an Achilles tendon injury.
Since losing 4-2 at Old Trafford in September in their opening match, Leverkusen have picked up seven points from their three games with home victories over Real Sociedad and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Bayer’s director of sport Rudi Voeller has described United’s visit as “the game of games” for Leverkusen, who are second in the Bundesliga and the hosts are itching to claim a famous scalp.
They will be without Germany winger Sidney Sam, who tore his thigh after just four minutes of Sami Hyypia-coached Bayer’s 1-0 win at Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
“This is one home game we definitely want to win,” said striker Stefan Kiessling.
“The stadium will be sold out and games like these are fun.
“With the fans support, we’ll be looking to win the game, so we are in charge of our own qualification.
“We showed them a bit too much respect in the away game, maybe we were a bit scared too, but that won’t be the case this time around.
“We showed in our last home game what we can do (a 4-0 win over Donetsk in October) and we want a similar performance.”
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.”
