Filippo Inzaghi got his tenure as AC Milan coach off to the best possible start with a scintillating 3-1 victory over Lazio at the San Siro on Sunday.
Meanwhile Nemanja Vidic was sent-off on his debut for Inter Milan in their 0-0 draw at Torino.
New Milan signing Fernando Torres was in the stands alongside president Silvio Berlusconi, to watch goals from Keisuke Honda, Sulley Muntari and a Jeremy Menez penalty give Inzaghi’s men three well-earned points.
“Today we won, but we mustn’t delude ourselves,” Inzaghi told Sky Sport Italia.
“For the first hour we played a near perfect game, then we struggled a bit against Lazio, who I think will be the surprise team this season.
“We have created a good group here, which makes me happy. Even if we lose a few games, it will be against teams who are stronger, not those who have more desire.”
Initially, Milan looked nervous in defence with Lazio keen to exploit centre back Daniele Bonera, who had lined up in the left back position, but it wasn’t long before any trepidation was extinguished, as Milan opened the scoring after just seven minutes.
Stephan El Shaarawy latched on to a hopeful long ball on the left, rode the challenge of Stefan de Vrij, before sliding the ball to the in-rushing Honda on the right, who put it through the legs of Etrit Berisha.
In an opening period with little in the way of goalmouth action, Lazio’s only meaningful chance came midway through the half as Miroslav Klose got in behind the Milan defence down the right, but his cross deflected off Cristian Zapata only to be easily gathered by goalkeeper Diego Lopez.
Ten minutes after the restart, Milan doubled their advantage against the run of play. A simple cross from Ignazio Abate on the right, bounced in the six-yard area, inviting the unmarked Muntari to poke it home.
Then, just after the hour mark, De Vrij brought down Menez in the area with the slightest of touches and the Frenchman stepped up to take the resulting spot kick and fired low into the goalkeeper’s right-hand corner.
But Lazio immediately pulled one back as Filip Djordjevic’s near-post flick was deflected in at his near left-hand post by Alex.
Lazio’s perseverance earnt a penalty in time added on after Antonio Candreva was fouled, but Lopez got down low to his right and palmed the midfielder’s spot kick away.
Meanwhile, Vidic was having a nightmare in Turin.
He gave away a penalty midway through the first half after pulling down Omar El Kaddouri, but Samir Handanovic saved Marcelo Larrondo’s resulting spot kick.
Nevertheless, Vidic’s debut disaster was compounded as he received a 90th minute red card.
“The referee made a mistake,” Inter coach Walter Mazzarri moaned.
“Like they do in England, Vidic applauded when a foul was whistled. His actions were misinterpreted. It was absurd.”
Rafael Benitez’s Napoli left it late to earn a 2-1 win against Genoa, as they looked to bounce back from their midweek Champions League exit at the hands of Athletic Bilbao.
Jose Callejon put the away side ahead after three minutes but Genoa’s summer signing Mauricio Pinilla headed home a deep Giovanni Marchese cross to equalise just before the break.
Napoli won it in the fifth minute of time-added-on as debutant Jonathan de Guzman latched onto a Juan Zuniga long ball in the six-yard box and poked past a statuesque Mattia Perin.
Sassuolo’s Simone Zaza scored a Marco van Basten-esque volley against Cagliari as the two sides played out an exciting 1-1 draw. Marco Sau netted for the Sardinians.
Elsewhere, an Antonio Di Natale double helped Udinese to a 2-0 win over Empoli, Palermo drew 1-1 with 10-man Sampdoria, while newly promoted Cesena overcame Parma 1-0.
In Bergamo, Atalanta were held to a 0-0 draw by Verona in what was an utterly dull affair.
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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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Scoreline
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 17
Jebel Ali Dragons 20
Harlequins Tries: Kinivilliame, Stevenson; Cons: Stevenson 2; Pen: Stevenson
Dragons Tries: Naisau, Fourie; Cons: Love 2; Pens: Love 2
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