Thomas Bjorn, captain of Team Europe, plays a shot during the Eurasia Cup Pro-Am at Glenmarie G&CCin Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Stuart Franklin / Getty Images
Thomas Bjorn, captain of Team Europe, plays a shot during the Eurasia Cup Pro-Am at Glenmarie G&CCin Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Stuart Franklin / Getty Images
Thomas Bjorn, captain of Team Europe, plays a shot during the Eurasia Cup Pro-Am at Glenmarie G&CCin Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Stuart Franklin / Getty Images
Thomas Bjorn, captain of Team Europe, plays a shot during the Eurasia Cup Pro-Am at Glenmarie G&CCin Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Stuart Franklin / Getty Images

Golf

Ahead of Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Thomas Bjorn to lead Europe's Ryder hopefuls in EurAsia Cup

Bjorn, who will captain Europe against USA in September, has six Ryder Cup veterans among his players as they take on Team Asia from Friday

Reuters

January 11, 2018

  • English
  • Arabic

Schedule:

Friday, January 12: Six fourball matches
Saturday, January 13: Six foursome (alternate shot) matches
Sunday, January 14: 12 singles

Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn will run the rule over a heavyweight European team when he skippers them against Asia in this week's EurAsia Cup.

Bjorn, who will captain Europe against USA in September, has six Ryder Cup veterans among his players as they take on Team Asia from Friday.

All 12 of Bjorn's team in Kuala Lumpur are European Tour winners, including world No 9 Henrik Stenson and Race to Dubai champion Tommy Fleetwood.

It gives Denmark's Bjorn a great chance to test players in a team environment before the showdown against USA in Paris.

But despite Europe's emphatic 18 1/2 to 5 1/2 win over Asia last time around in 2016, Bjorn said he is taking nothing for granted.

"We're very well aware that Asia has never fielded a stronger team than they do this time," Bjorn said, according to the European Tour website.

"Golf is a strange game. Whatever it says on the paper very rarely comes out on top. Golf in Asia is growing dramatically and the amount of players that are coming out of Asia in world golf shows where golf is going for the future."

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Team Asia captain Arjun Atwal said that his players also refused to see themselves as underdogs.

"Definitely everybody knows we are underdogs - except my team," he said.

"There is no such thing as an underdog in match playgolf. You can be underdogs on paper, but once the matches start, anything can happen."

The Asians have already proved they can match the Europeans, after they held them 10-10 at the inaugural EurAsia Cup in 2014.

Leading players on Atwal's team include world No 36 Yuta Ikeda from Japan and world No 49 Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand, Anirban Lahiri of India and South Korea's An Byeong-hun.

Promising young Malaysian Gavin Green, the latest Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, is among a handful on the Asian side playing in the event at the Glenmarie Golf and Country Club for the first time.

The US$4.8 million (Dh17.6m) EurAsia Cup runs from Friday to Sunday at Glenmarie Golf and Country Club.

A total of 24 points are on offer, meaning the first team to 12.5 points will win.

"Over 18 holes, anything can happen," Bjorn said.

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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.”

RESULT

Leeds United 1 Manchester City 1
Leeds: Rodrigo (59')
Man City: Sterling (17')

Man of the Match: Rodrigo Moreno (Leeds)

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Test

Director: S Sashikanth

Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan

Star rating: 2/5

The biog

Name: Mohammed Imtiaz

From: Gujranwala, Pakistan

Arrived in the UAE: 1976

Favourite clothes to make: Suit

Cost of a hand-made suit: From Dh550

 

Conservative MPs who have publicly revealed sending letters of no confidence
  1. Steve Baker
  2. Peter Bone
  3. Ben Bradley
  4. Andrew Bridgen
  5. Maria Caulfield​​​​​​​
  6. Simon Clarke 
  7. Philip Davies
  8. Nadine Dorries​​​​​​​
  9. James Duddridge​​​​​​​
  10. Mark Francois 
  11. Chris Green
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Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

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Director: Edgar Wright

Starring: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Lily James

Three and a half stars

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Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.

“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.

“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”

If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.

The bio

Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions

School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira

Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk

Dream City: San Francisco

Hometown: Dubai

City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala

The specs: 2019 Mini Cooper

Price, base: Dh141,740 (three-door) / Dh165,900 (five-door)
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder (Cooper) / 2.0-litre four-cylinder (Cooper S)
Power: 136hp @ 4,500rpm (Cooper) / 192hp @ 5,000rpm (Cooper S)
Torque: 220Nm @ 1,480rpm (Cooper) / 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (Cooper S)
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 4.8L to 5.4L / 100km

The Vile

Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah

Director: Majid Al Ansari

Rating: 4/5

Schedule:

Friday, January 12: Six fourball matches
Saturday, January 13: Six foursome (alternate shot) matches
Sunday, January 14: 12 singles