Michelle Wie has new focus

DUBAI // It is just as well Michelle Wie is bubbling with youthful exuberance as she seeks to justify top billing in the Dubai Ladies Masters, which starts today at Emirates Golf Club. The young American golfer is functioning on minimal sleep, not least because of the academic demands being made on her by teachers back home.

A physics examination taken electronically in the early hours of yesterday morning left her bleary eyed as she discussed her chances of emerging triumphant from a cluster of leading players seeking this end-of-season title. "I've got to take two more exams - today and Friday," she said before she went out in the pro-am to complete her brief preparations for her first competitive round on the Majlis Course this morning.

The statuesque Wie has been a hugely recognisable figure to golf enthusiasts since her early teens, and at the tender age of 20 she has experienced more than many professionals do in an entire career. She admitted that at times it has been a difficult road and one which she might have negotiated differently with the benefit of hindsight. But Wie, who comfortably outdrove top male touring players when still a schoolgirl, believes the trials and tribulations of growing up in the public eye have made her stronger and better equipped for what lies ahead.

Stronger mentally, if not physically. A wrist injury sustained two years ago has impaired her ability to unleash her booming 300-yard drives, while a more recently sprained ankle is adding to her difficulties in coping with the demands of 72-hole tournament golf. However, a belated maiden US PGA Tour victory earlier this year has done wonders for her confidence and she was prepared to talk up her chances of overcoming a high quality field here which includes 10 of Europe's Solheim Cup squad and her own American teammate Christina Kim.

"Winning that first tournament made me realise how much more I wanted to do it and it just motivates me to try to do even better," said Wie. "It was such a great feeling that first time. Hopefully now it's going to keep getting better. "My goal is to win here but I can't control everything that happens out there. But I can control what I do and I'm going to give it everything I can over the next four days. If that proves good enough to win, that would be awesome, if not, then I know that I will have tried my hardest."

With Annika Sorenstam, previously the biggest attraction in women's golf, waving an emotional goodbye at this tournament a year ago, Wie is regarded as the next star of the game. Initially she was portrayed as the female equivalent to Tiger Woods but she has not yet fulfilled that high promise. "I've made some good decisions and bad decisions so far," she said. "But the main thing is that you learn from your mistakes and try not to make the same ones again. It is kind of weird when people talk about what I might be capable of and I guess it can add to the pressure. "But it is also exciting and it makes me want to show what I have got. I am really happy right now and I think that's all that matters. I am a believer that anything can happen. I am more mature now and I am able to concentrate on what is happening right now without focusing on the past or the future."

Wie also disclosed that her schoolgirl urge to knock the skin off the golf ball and see it disappear over the horizon has waned. "Of course it is great fun to rip it occasionally but I have come to regard consistency as being more important than length," she said. "Trying to get the ball into the hole is the key, not trying to kill it by unleashing your driver on every hole." That new strategy was abandoned briefly when Wie was taken to the roof of the city to hit a ball off the top of the Burj skyscraper.

"I'm really scared of heights, so going 125 storeys high was going to be horrific," she said. "But once I got past the shaky legs stage it was really amazing. It was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had." Wie begins her Dubai challenge on the 10th tee at 7.50am today alongside Becky Brewerton, of Wales and Italy's Diana Luna. She will be followed by the defending champion Anja Monke, of Germany, who has been drawn with Kim, and Scotland's Catriona Matthew, who is Europe's second ranked player.

Top of the European money list is Sweden's Sophie Gustafson. She starts off the first tee at 11.30am and will have France's Gwladys Nocera and Spain's Tania Elosegui for company in the first two rounds. @Email:wjohnson@thenational.ae

UK's plans to cut net migration

Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.

Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.

But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.

Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.

Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.

The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.

Cryopreservation: A timeline

Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
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Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months

Palestine and Israel

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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.”