Jazira hope for helping hand in push to reach UAE League Cup semi-finals

ABU DHABI // Al Jazira’s hopes of a semi-final spot in the League Cup are out of their hands as they head into a derby match with Al Wahda on Sunday.

Baniyas are a point ahead of Jazira, and a win at Dubai would ensure their place in the last-four stage alongside the group leaders Sharjah, who meet city rivals Al Shaab.

To compound the situation, Jazira will be depleted when they meet neighbours Wahda at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium.

They will be without five key players: Felipe Caicedo, the Ecuadorean forward; Abdelaziz Barrada, the Moroccan midfielder; and the Emiratis Ali Kasheif, Khamis Ismail and Ali Mabkhout, are all on national-team duty.

Stefano Cusin, Jazira’s assistant coach, said his side can cope with the absences.

“The head coach [Walter Zenga] has full trust in his entire squad and will have a strong line-up. He expects those who are selected in place of the absent players to perform and prove their worth,” he said.

Cusin said Zenga would make sure the team did not start worrying about the Baniyas result.

“We don’t want to make that mistake of thinking too much about the result of the other game between Baniyas and Dubai but just focus on winning the game we play,” Cusin said.

“We’ll see what happens thereafter, because a game against Wahda, regardless of the positions, is always special and exciting for the players as well as for our fans.

“To win against them requires a strong fighting spirit, strong mentality and full concentration, and I feel our players will go in to this game knowing all these facts.”

Wahda have no hope of making the knock-out rounds and are without Hamdan Al Kamali, Eisa Ahmed and Salem Saleh because of international duty.

However, manager Jose Peseiro said they will treat the game just like any other.

“The players must respect the club shirt when they are on the pitch,” the Portuguese said.

“It is always a big game against Jazira whatever situation we are in. There is pride at stake. Our approach to every game is to win and play at the highest level, and this game will be no different.”

He also hinted at providing some fringe players an opportunity by leaving some of his key players, such as Ismail Matar and the Argentine duo Damian Diaz and Sebastian Tagliabue, on the bench.

“Providing some of the young players the opportunity to play doesn’t mean we are going understrength. In fact, those provided with the opportunity will be more motivated to prove their selection,” Peseiro said.

Meanwhile, Baniyas are looking for their first win in four games under Adnan Hamad, the Iraqi who replaced the Uruguayan Jorge da Silva last month.

They meet a Dubai team who are lagging at the bottom in both the Arabian Gulf League and their League Cup group.

It is more straightforward in Group B, with Al Dhafra (12) and Al Ahli (10) already through to the semi-finals. Dhafra travel to Ras Al Khaimah to face Emirates, Al Ahli play at home against neighbours Al Shabab and Al Nasr make the short trip to the Zabeel Stadium for a meeting with Al Wasl.

apassela@thenational.ae

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2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”

2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency

July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”

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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.”

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.	United States
2.	China
3.	UAE
4.	Japan
5	Norway
6.	Canada
7.	Singapore
8.	Australia
9.	Saudi Arabia
10.	South Korea

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Following fashion

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Nepotism is the name of the game

Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.