Phil Mickelson says he is excited about the 2010 season.
Phil Mickelson says he is excited about the 2010 season.
Phil Mickelson says he is excited about the 2010 season.
Phil Mickelson says he is excited about the 2010 season.

Mickelson claims HSBC Champions title


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SHANGHAI // Phil Mickelson says he is starting to play some of the best golf of his career after ending his season by winning the WGC-HSBC Champions. The world No 2's second success in three years in Shanghai was also his fourth tournament victory of a season that was turbulent off the course with both his wife and mother falling victim to breast cancer. Gritting out a victory over a strong field in a pressure-cooker of an atmosphere at the Sheshan International Golf Club convinced Mickelson he was close to his peak.

"I'm excited about 2010 because I'm starting to play the best golf of my career," the 39-year-old said. "And everything is starting to kind of come together as far as my driving, since working with Butch Harmon, my ball striking has been much better. "My short game is better than it's ever been. Going into 2010, not only am I excited about it, but I have very high expectations." Mickelson played the final round with Tiger Woods and, although the anticipated shootout never really materialised as the world No 1 started so poorly.

"It always feels good to win any tournament but certainly when you have a chance to go head-to-head - although, I know he didn't play his best today," he said. Mickelson's manner and success in China over the last three years has made him very popular with the locals, noticeably more so even than Woods among the thousands of fans that lined the course on Sunday. "I thought the gallery and the people were terrific," he added. "The galleries were much bigger than the past two years, and I'm very excited to see that people in China are getting excited about golf."

Mickelson, who finished his domestic season with victory at the Tour Championship and the President's Cup, will not get credit in the US PGA Tour money list for the US$1.2 million (Dh4.4m) he takes away from Shanghai. "I think it would have been great if it would count, but it doesn't take away the fact that I beat 15 of the 20 best players in the world," he said. * Reuters

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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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