McDowell 'feeling good' heading for Dubai showdown

Graeme McDowell believes he has hit top form at just the right time to clinch the Race to Dubai.

The US Open winner finished fifth in the Hong Kong Open yesterday to close the gap on Martin Kaymer, the European money leader, to US$214,000 (Dh786,000) ahead of next week's season-ending Dubai World Championship.

And he said: "I'm within touching distance now of next week. I've got to play well next week, simple as that. Martin, I can't control his ball, I can only control mine. I'm going to go in there next week and try to play my own game.

"I have a few things to brush up on before Thursday, but all in all, I'm driving the ball great, which is the key to next week and I'm feeling really good about my game."

England's Ian Poulter held off the challenge of Matteo Manassero, the Italian youngster, to win by a single stroke in Hong Kong and return to the top 10 in the world rankings.

Manassero, 17, completed a final round eight-under 62, but Poulter's 67 was enough to clinch his 10th win on the European Tour with a 22-under total of 258.

"I felt comfortable the whole day, the way I was hitting it," Poulter said. "I was hitting it inside 12 feet at pretty much nearly every hole out there and I knew if I kept doing that I would be very tough to beat."

England's Simon Dyson tied for second after a 65, while American Anthony Kang was another stroke back in fourth.

While the win puts him back into the top 10 in the world rankings, Poulter is not going to make any more brash predictions about getting to No 1. Poulter said in early 2008 that when he reached his full potential, he was the only golfer who could challenge Tiger Woods, the then rankings leader, for the top spot.

But with Lee Westwood having taken over from Woods as No 1, Poulter is decidedly more low-key about his own prospects.

"I'm not going to play the game of saying I'm going to get to No 1," he said. "I tried that once before and it didn't work, so I think I'll just try and win next week and see how high I go."

* Agency

If you go

Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.

When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.

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Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.

Based: Riyadh

Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany

Founded: September, 2020

Number of employees: 70

Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions

Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds

Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices

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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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