London // When Rene Meulensteen was appointed to assist Martin Jol on November 13, the assumption was that if results did not improve, one Dutchman would be replacing the other.
Sure enough, a day after Fulham suffered a fifth straight Premier League defeat on Saturday, sinking further into relegation trouble with a 3-0 loss at West Ham United, Jol was dismissed and Meulensteen appointed in his place.
Meulensteen’s improbable partnership with Jol lasted a day longer than his ill-fated 16-day reign at the turbulent Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala.
Although highly rated as part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s backroom staff at Manchester United, Meulensteen left the club when David Moyes took over in the summer, but his time in Dagestan came to premature end as the club owner Suleiman Kerimov abruptly cut his financing.
Meulensteen had been linked with roles at Sunderland and Crystal Palace before taking on the Fulham role.
“Rene Meulensteen was brought to Fulham to assist Martin and today was offered the challenge and opportunity to step in for Martin,” Fulham’s owner Shahid Khan said.
“I thank Rene for accepting and now we move forward. I have great confidence in Rene and high expectations for our squad to respond.”
Jol’s position had seemed insecure from the moment Khan bought the club from Mohammed Al Fayed in the summer and such has been his mood of gloomy resignation of late, it almost seemed he was surprised not to have been relieved of his duties sooner.
“Martin was very gracious and I appreciate his understanding of the situation,” Khan said. “There is no question Martin is an excellent football man and he has my utmost respect for the commitment he made to our club.
“However, our poor form and results this season are undeniable, and Fulham supporters deserve better. With more than half the season still ahead, an immediate change was necessary.”
Meulensteen inherits a side that sits three points off the bottom of the table and three points from relegation safety. Although there is undoubted quality in the squad in the likes of Dimitar Berbatov, Adel Taraabt and Bryan Ruiz, there are concerns about the lack of work rate and fight.
In addition, although Fulham signed seven players in the summer, only Taraabt was under age 28, with four of the new arrivals 30 or over, leading to doubts about the squad’s hunger.
There are questions, too, over whether Meulensteen, now 49, has the personality to be a head coach.
Although few doubt his background – Robin van Persie has expressed his admiration – even before the Anzhi debacle, he had endured a difficult time as manager of Brondby. His first game in charge comes at Craven Cottage against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday.
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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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Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
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