NEWMARKET // John Ferguson has underlined James Doyle’s importance to the Godolphin operation and fully expects him to be riding in the royal blue silks in Dubai during the winter.
Saeed bin Suroor said this week that Doyle would no longer be the automatic first choice for his 115 horses based in Godolphin Stables in Newmarket.
There had also been speculation in the British horse racing media that Doyle would go on to replace Paul Hanagan as Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid’s first rider at the Shadwell organisation.
Sheikh Hamdan himself quashed any suggestion that Hanagan would be demoted on Saturday after his Talaayeb hinted at being a Classic filly following her win in the opening maiden.
Soon afterwards Ferguson attempted to clarify the situation at Godolphin and confirmed that Doyle was still a very important part of their operation.
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“James is a fantastic player and has been signed by Godolphin to ride the horses we want him to ride,” the Godolphin chief executive said.
“We all have complete faith in him as a top-class pilot. We have so many horses in so many different trainers’ yards now. James will still be very busy and I am looking forward to many years of him riding for us.
“James has made it unequivocally clear that he wants to remain an integral part of Godolphin.”
Doyle rode superbly when he partnered Best Of Days, a Godolphin colt trained by Hugo Palmer, to win the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes.
Doyle, 28, was understandably delighted with the victory aboard a colt that Palmer believes could be a key player in next season’s English Derby.
“It was quite important to get the job done,” the jockey said as he reflected on Bin Suroor’s decision.
“It is one of those things. It is a bit of a low blow when the trainer that you ride for has decided to use outside jockeys.
“He is the boss, and I have to respect his decision and move on. I just have to keep doing my best and I know I am doing my best.”
There were no fireworks from either Lady Aurelia in the Cheveley Park Stakes or Godolphin’s Blue Point in the Middle Park Stakes.
Lady Aurelia set a fearsome pace under Frankie Dettori but after her searing early fractions, she was left gasping for air in the final 200 metres.
Aidan O’Brien’s Brave Anna swept past going up the hill alongside stablemate Roly Poly and at the line Brave Anna had only a short-head to spare.
The Albany Stakes winner had been stepped up in distance after Royal Ascot, but back down to 1,200 metres she appreciated the tow in to the race given by the pre-race favourite.
Brave Anna provided jockey Seamie Heffernan with his third Group 1 victory of the season but the Irish rider was only fourth aboard Intelligence Cross in the Middle Park, won by outsider The Last Lion.
Joe Fanning always had The Last Lion in front and although William Buick looked in a good position to overhaul him on Blue Point there was three quarters of a length between the two at the line.
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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.”
