Cristiano Ronaldo has turned his sights on winning the Uefa Champions League in his native Portugal after setting a record for goals scored in one season of Europe’s elite club competition.
Ronaldo's brace in Tuesday's 4-0 drubbing of holders Bayern Munich, which sent Real through to next month's final in Lisbon 5-0 on aggregate, took his Champions League tally for the season to 16 in 12 matches.
The 29 year old had equalled Barcelona forward Lionel Messi’s record of 14 scored in the 2011-12 competition with a goal in the quarter-final first leg against Borussia Dortmund and has 66 overall in 102 appearances.
In pictures: Real Madrid stomp Bayern Munich in Uefa Champions League semi-finals
Former Real striker Raul is the leading marksman with 71 goals, with Messi second on 67.
“I was looking for it (the record) and I knew I needed one goal but I was not going to be mad if it didn’t happen,” Ronaldo said.
“I’m really happy to break the Champions League record but what I want is to win it and we’re very excited.
“A final is always complicated. It will be in my country and I want to win the Champions League.”
Ronaldo, who top scored in last season’s Champions League with 12 goals, netted a hat-trick at Group B rivals Galatasaray in Real’s opening game this season and followed up with doubles against Copenhagen and Juventus.
He went on to score twice in each leg of the round-of-16 tie against Schalke before helping dispatch Dortmund and Bayern.
“We showed a very good attitude and we deserved to reach the final,” he said.
“I’d like to thank all the players for their effort and now is the time to enjoy the moment and play the final to win.
“We have been losing in the semis for a long time, three or four years, but the most important thing is that now we are in a deserved final and we have our feet on the ground.”
Ronaldo has only won the Champions League once before, with Manchester United in 2008 when they beat Chelsea on penalties after drawing 1-1.
His teammate Gareth Bale said Madrid reaching the final had proved that his decision to leave Tottenham Hotspur in the summer to join them had been vindicated.
“This is why I wanted to come to the biggest club in the world: to win trophies, to be in massive games,” he told Sky Sports.
“We still haven’t won it yet, we’ve still got a difficult game in the final whoever it may be and we’re looking forward to it.”
Of Ronaldo’s record-breaking night, Bale said: “That’s why he’s the world’s best player. It’s an honour to play with him, to learn off him.
“But we’ve got one match to go and hopefully he can score a few more goals.”
Carlo Ancelotti, the Madrid manager, said: “I think the key of this game was the job that all the players made together. When we have this kind of thought from everyone, when you have quality, I think that this is the key to the game.”
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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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