Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers has revealed he had coronavirus as the Premier League prepares to return.
The Foxes manager was ill in March and April, soon after the season was halted following Leicester's 4-0 win over Aston Villa.
Wife Charlotte was also unwell but both are now fine, with Rodgers taking training ahead of the Premier League's return next month.
Rodgers is the second top-flight manager to contract the virus after Arsenal's Mikel Arteta.
He said: "A week or so after we had broken up, I wasn't well and it was later detected I had the virus and a week later my wife had it.
"We spent about three weeks, both of us, feeling the effects of it. We were nowhere near as bad as many others but we lost our smell and taste and our strength.
"I had a little feeling of what it was like, it was tough. Once we got back fit and well it made us really appreciate our health and I've taken the opportunity to get back to being as fit as I can be.
"The strangest thing was losing your smell and the taste, you lose your strength, you could hardly walk 10 yards.
"I felt it was similar to the time I was climbing Kilimanjaro. When you get to a certain point at altitude you walk and really suffer.
"The first time I tried to exercise I couldn't run 10 yards. It really does knock you but it wasn't as serious as a lot of people have had. You come out of it grateful you are fine."
Rodgers also admitted he knew something was not right given the symptoms he had.
"At the time I hadn't been tested but I knew it was different. The headache you had, it felt really isolated on one side of your head. Your appetite goes, you can't smell, taste and you feel weak," he said.
"You think, 'If I don't have it I wonder what this is?' That's why we got the test, to be reassured."
The 47-year-old is still being tested twice a week, along the Premier League's coronavirus protocols, with the top-flight aiming for a restart date of June 17.
Leicester, third in the table, are due to play Watford next while they are also scheduled to host Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-finals at the end of June.
"At the training ground, it's very safe, we are getting tested on the Monday and the Thursday. It's not the case that now I've had it I wouldn't test, you just never know," added Rodgers.
"I think the biggest thing we've taken from this is the community feel you get. If there's any good to come out of the pandemic, it's a return to some sort of community spirit."
The Premier League is due to return on June 17, having been away since March, and Rodgers and his players have no fear of playing again.
He said: "It's been a long time that we haven't been playing, and step by step, stage by stage, we've been working our way towards that moment, but it was important for the purpose of players, the planning, the logistics, that we got a start date. So thankfully that came out and now we can focus on getting the games under way, which I think will be great for everyone.
"We've had great dialogue along the way from when we stopped and went into lockdown.
"There's been a lot of communication right the way through the club, and in particular with the players. So they've been briefed all the way along. If they had any fears, worries or concerns, it was an open-door policy for them."
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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.”
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
