Zinedine Zidane a ‘happy’ man as Gareth Bale leads Real Madrid to rout of Deportivo

Zinedine Zidane has urged Gareth Bale to maintain his sensational form after the Welshman got the Frenchman’s reign as Real Madrid manager off to a flying start with a hat-trick in a 5-0 demolition of Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.

Madrid moved to within two points of Primera Liga leaders Barcelona on Zidane’s bow in senior management at the Bernabeu as Bale registered his second treble in four games in between Karim Benzema’s double.

Bale now has 10 goals in his last seven outings for Madrid and his display dismissed suggestions that he had been disappointed by Rafael Benitez’s unceremonious sacking after just seven months in the job earlier in the week.

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However, Zidane focused on the former Tottenham Hotspur man’s defensive duties as well as his finishing in arguably Bale’s best run of form since joining Madrid three years ago.

“Gareth has to do the same as everyone else. When we don’t have the ball he has to defend. Then when we have to he can open the game up and play on the wing,” Zidane said.

“That is what he did today. I am happy with his contribution. It isn’t easy to score three goals and we hope he continues like that.”

Zidane’s appointment as the club’s 11th coach in 12 years under club president Florentino Perez was criticised in some quarters due to his lack of managerial experience.

Despite a legendary playing career, Zidane’s only previous coaching role was with Madrid’s feeder team Castilla in the Spanish third tier for the past 18 months.

Diego Forlan column: I wish Zidane good luck at Real Madrid. He is going to need it

However, his promotion to the top job at the Bernabeu has been a popular one with the club’s fans with Zidane fondly remembered from his five years as a player at the club, most notably scoring a sensational winning goal in the 2002 Uefa Champions League final.

And in stark contrast to Benitez’s final days in charge, there was an air of optimism around a packed Bernabeu as the fans braved the freezing January temperatures.

“Today is the start of a new challenge for me. It is an important role to be the coach here and I want to enjoy it,” Zidane said.

“I thank the fans, but they come to see the players and I think today they have been rewarded with the effort the team showed and the victory.

“The fans were behind the team right until the end, there was a good atmosphere but we need to continue.

“We need to think that this is just the first game and see what happens in the next one. Our idea is to play good football and win as many matches as possible.”

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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.”

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Ministerial experience: Current Foreign Secretary.
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