Shaun Marsh, left, and Michael Hussey run between the wickets on the second day of the second Test.
Shaun Marsh, left, and Michael Hussey run between the wickets on the second day of the second Test.

Hussey all praise for Marsh's knock



PALLEKELE // Michael Hussey paid tribute to Shaun Marsh for his patient knock of 87, on Test debut, against Sri Lanka on Friday.

Australia ended day two of the second of three Tests on 264 for three on Friday, in response to Sri Lanka's 174 all out, with Marsh and Hussey (76) involved in an unbroken stand of 148 runs.

Hussey, who joined Marsh at the wicket with the tourists on 116 for three, later doffed his hat to Marsh, a fellow left-hander and Western Australian.

"We've played all our cricket together for Western Australia," Michael Hussey said of Marsh. "I remember he made 90 in his debut and I remember batting with him for quite a period of time in his first game and he had a very similar sort of tempo.

"He showed tremendous concentration," Hussey said. "There were some periods where the scoring was more difficult. They bowled really tight for a while and he showed great concentration."

Hussey said he hoped to continue in the same vein today. "Obviously he would be a bit nervous overnight [having neared a maiden century], but hopefully we can start well again in the morning."

Marsh, the son of Geoff Marsh, the former Australia opening batsman, could have scored a century, but only 4.3 overs of play were possible in the third session before the game was stopped due to bad light.

Hussey also had words of appreciation for Sri Lanka's bowlers, saying: "The wicket played a lot better today than it did early yesterday.

"There is certainly no real swing movement for the fast bowlers and even with the second new ball, I think the wicket played quite slow, quite flat for the fast bowlers. It wasn't taking a lot of spin either."

Indeed, Sri Lanka's bowlers toiled and Tillakaratne Dilshan, the captain, used seven bowlers including himself and part timers Kumar Sangakkara and Thilan Samaraweera.

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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UAE fixtures

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Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier

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Uefa Champions League, last 16, first leg

Liverpool v Bayern Munich, midnight (Wednesday), BeIN Sports

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
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Pupils to learn coding and other vocational skills from Grade 6

Exams to test critical thinking and application of knowledge

A new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance, Assessment, Review and Analysis for Holistic Development) will form the standard for schools

Schools to implement online system to encouraging transparency and accountability

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