MANCHESTER // The Champions League often appears a case of false advertising.
Not Group D, however.
Whereas other pools are flooded by teams who did not win their domestic league, the champions of England, Germany, Spain and Holland are pitted against each other.
"For this reason, it is difficult," said Roberto Mancini, the Manchester City manager.
"It is good and difficult."
The problems began with City's last game in Europe, a 3-2 loss to Real Madrid. Even reaching the last 16, the manager believes: "Will be difficult."
It is all the harder as Borussia Dortmund visit the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night.
German opposition proved City's undoing last year, with a 2-0 defeat to Bayern Munich at the equivalent stage and, as Mancini pointed out, Dortmund have seen off the Bavarians' challenge to win back-to-back Bundesliga titles.
"They are one of the best teams in Europe," said the Italian.
It is why City's initial objective is simply to reach the knockout stages.
Thereafter, their aims are rather higher.
"It is important to get into the second stage because after that anything can happen," Mancini said.
"My ambition is to win it."
It would be a seismic step forward if he did.
A manager with a fine pedigree in domestic leagues, winning three Italian Serie A titles and England's Premier League in the past seven seasons, he has never progressed beyond the quarter-finals of Europe's premier club competition. "I hope I can improve my record in the Champions League," Mancini said.
But there is plenty of pedigree in his side. They boast Champions League winners in 2008, 2009 and 2010 in the shape of Carlos Tevez, Yaya Toure and Maicon, respectively.
"With these kinds of players, I think we can go far and win this competition," said Toure, who helped Barcelona beat Manchester United in the 2009 final.
Quiet but determined, the midfielder's verdict on City's debut year in the Champions League was damning. Ten points were secured, but they were not enough for a top-two finish in their group and they dropped into the Europa League.
"Our last campaign was a disaster," Toure said.
"We want to change that. Look at our rivals, Chelsea and Manchester United; they have appeared in a final.
"This year I hope we can go far and even win it."
He was similarly outspoken on the subject of City's first game on the continent this season. Mancini's men led 2-1 with five minutes to go in the Bernabeu but Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo scored to turn a memorable victory into a damaging defeat.
"We want to show the fans we made a mistake in Madrid," Toure said.
The central problem was outlined by Mancini.
"I think we need time to improve in the Champions League but we do not have time," he said.
"We have only five [more group] games and we cannot concede goals like we did against Real Madrid if we want to go through."
Nor can they afford the same sort of result.
City have less margin for error.
A game in, this looks a must-win match.
"The position we are in now is quite serious because we lost in Madrid," Toure said.
They cannot afford another setback.
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Rasmi Ragy is a senior counsel at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Prosecutor in Egypt with more than 40 years experience across the GCC.
Education: Ain Shams University, Egypt, in 1978.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
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.”
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
