The nation's football chiefs have made qualifying for the Olympics their main objective, depriving the senior national team of the UAE's best Under 23 players.
In putting a ticket for London 2012 at the top of their list of priorities, the Football Association (FA) have dealt a second blow to the senior side's chances at the Gulf Cup - a tournament they won in 2007.
The FA had already announced that Srecko Katanec, the national team coach, will be unable to pick Al Wahda players for the tournament to give the Pro League club the best possible chance in December's Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi, now he will lose his talented crop of young players such as Hamdan al Kamali and Ahmed Khalil, the Al Ahli striker. The Olympic team will be taking part in the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, from November 12 to 27, while the Gulf Cup in Yemen starts on November 22.
However, Katanec will have all his players available for perhaps the most important upcoming tournament - the Asian Cup in Qatar in January. The team for the Asian Games must consist of players under the age of 23, although three "over-age" players can be picked.
Wahda's al Kamali, 21, the captain of the UAE team that won the Asian Under 19 Championship in 2008 and reached the quarter-finals of the Youth World Cup last year, has been named in the Olympic squad while Khalil, 18, the nation's top forward prospect, is currently leading the U19 team's defence of their Asian Championship in China. He is expected to join the Olympic team following the commencement of the tournament.
With many of that victorious 2008 U19 squad - who also formed much of the team that won the U23 Gulf Cup in Qatar in August - having progressed to the senior team, it has left Katanec with a selection headache. However, for now, the Slovenian has left Fahad Ali, the former UAE captain and a member of his coaching staff, to do the talking for him.
"The football administrators have made a decision and we will have to abide by it," Ali said during the senior team's training at the Military Stadium on Monday.
"They feel to qualify for the 2012 Olympics is as important as winning the Gulf Cup and for Wahda, to make a good impression in front of the world viewers in the Club World Cup. The youth have done wonderfully well and the administration thought they should continue to work as a team for the future." Wahda play their first Club World Cup match against Hekari United of Papua New Guinea on December 8.
Four of their players - Ismail Matar, Mohammed al Shehhi, Mahmoud Khamis and Fahed Masoud - have been named in Katanec's squad for friendlies against Chile on Saturday and Angola three days later - even though they will not be considered for the Gulf Cup.
"The coach has got some plans and he feels those players [the Wahda contingent] will also benefit by playing in the two friendlies," Ali added.
The Olympic squad are preparing for two friendlies against Egypt - tomorrow and on Sunday, both in Al Ain. The top four teams from the 30-nation Asian Games qualify for the 2012 Olympics.
Fixtures
Tomorrow
Brazil v Iran, 9pm, Zayed Sports City, Abu Dhabi
UAE Olympic team v Egypt, 7.30pm, Al Ain
Saturday
UAE V Chile, 8.30pm, Zayed Sports City, Abu Dhabi
Sunday
UAE Olympic team v Egypt, 7.30pm, Al Ain
Tuesday
UAE V Angola, 8.30pm, Zayed Sports City, Abu Dhabi
UAE squad
Majed Nasser(Al Wasl),Mahmoud Al Mas(Sharjah),Obaid al Taweela, Mohammed Qassim, Ahmed Khamis, Faisal Khalil(Al Ahli),Khalid Sabeel, Sultan Bargash al Minhali, Subait Khater, Yasser Matar(Al Jazira),Fares Juma, Ali al Wehaibi, Mohammed Abdulrahman, Fawzi Fayez (Al Ain),Yousef Jaber (Baniyas),Waleed Abbas(Al Shabab),Ali Rabie(Emirate),Ismail Matar, Mohammed al Shehhi, Mahmoud Khamis, Fahed Masoud(Al Wahda),Amer Mubarak(Al Nasr)
apassela@thenational.ae
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Al Sadd v Esteghlal (8pm)
Persepolis v Pakhtakor (8pm)
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Tuesday, Oct 1
Al Hilal v Al Shorta (10pm)
Al Gharafa v Al Ain (10pm)
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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.”
