James runs to historic victory



Kirani James exploded on to the world stage with victory in the 400 metres final to give the tiny Caribbean nation of Grenada its first world championships medal on Tuesday.

Just two days short of his 19th birthday, James nervelessly chased down LaShawn Merritt, the defending champion, on the home straight and surged past the American just before the line to claim the gold medal in a personal best time of 44.60secs.

"It's a great feeling, but it's great just being here representing my country," James said. "I was just trying to relax and finish strong."

Merritt, the Olympic champion, came round the final bend with what looked like a comfortable lead before being beaten by James's finish.

Merritt, who returned from a 21-month ban for doping in July and set the best time of the year in the first round in Daegu, took his second world championship silver medal in 44.63.

"He's a great athlete, I just didn't have a great day," said the 25 year old. "44.60, I'll take it. I'm back."

Belgium's Kevin Borlee, whose twin brother Jonathan finished fifth in the final, claimed bronze in 44.90.

James, the third youngest men's champion at the worlds, only made his debut as a professional athlete at the Diamond League meeting in London this month after racking up many junior titles and records.

Two years ago he broke Usain Bolt's six-year old CARIFA Games 400m record and he was named his country's sportsman of the year at the age of 17 after winning the 2010 world junior title.

"He's not one of those who's cocky, he would love the attention to be taken away from him, but inside is a drive," his coach Harvey Glance told Reuters.

"He's a freak of nature. At 18 he's the first to make a final and then he goes out and wins the 400 metres. He's destined for greatness."

How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

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Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

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.”