Sport

Hughes all of a Twitter

Philip Hughes brings about a first in international cricket after revealing his omission from the Australia team via the internet.

James Masters

July 31, 2009

BIRMINGHAM // Philip Hughes brought about a first in international cricket yesterday after revealing his omission from the Australia team via the internet. The batsman, 20, who has been dropped in favour of all-rounder Shane Watson, released the news on his Twitter page before captain Ricky Ponting had named his side for the third Ashes Test against England at Edgbaston.

Hughes wrote: "Disappointed not to be on the field with the lads today, will be supporting the guys, it's a BIG test match 4 us. Thanks 4 all the support!" Whether Hughes will be punished for his premature disclosure is yet to be confirmed but Cricket Australia may well crack down on their players using online networking sites. Dean Jones, the former Australia player, wasted little time in registering his disgust at Hughes's actions - saying the youngster should be punished.

"Phil Hughes announcing he's been dropped on Twitter is just wrong," he said. "He needs a good foot up the backside for that. He's broken a team rule and he's let the opposition know what's happened before the game's started." The promising Hughes has struggled for runs in his debut Ashes series, despite having enjoyed a wonderful start to his career in England with Middlesex. The left-handed opener scored freely in the English County Championship at the start of the summer and his innings of 68 against Northamptonshire earlier in the week had looked to have secured his place in the side.

Australia put their trust in Watson, who scored 84 and 50 in the tour match at Wantage Road, while his ability to bowl at a medium pace will ease the pressure on Mitchell Johnson. Watson, 28, certainly did not disappoint as he opened the batting for Australia yesterday with Simon Katich. The pair put on 85 together after the first 90 minutes play with Watson's share of them being 38 while Katich had 46 before falling lbw to Graeme Swann.

Watson's ability to score quickly has allowed him to open the batting in Twenty20 and one-day cricket, but he is an unknown quantity when it comes to the longest format of the game. His talent is undoubted but he has struggled to fulfil his potential after being constantly haunted by a back problem. A highest Test match score of 78 against India in Mohali last October remains Watson's most successful appearance with the bat.

Now though he has the opportunity to turn the tide of this Ashes series, and that is incentive enough for him to succeed this summer. sports@thenational.ae

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Ain Dubai in numbers

126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure

1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch

16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.

9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.

5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place

192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.

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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