Maqaasid can go the extra distance for Gosden

NEWMARKET, England // Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, John Gosden and Richard Hills team up with Maqaasid this afternoon in the hope of replicating their success in the 1000 Guineas 11 years ago.

The owner, trainer and jockey combined with Lahan in 2000, beating out 17 rivals to win the race.

With 19 runners going to post today, a shoot-out should suit their runner. Maqaasid turned in a solid performance at Newmarket two weeks ago when finishing third to Barefoot Lady in the Nell Gwyn Stakes over 1,400m.

The daughter of Green Desert had to give weight to Barefoot Lady, who also is in today's line-up.

Gosden said both fillies would carry an advantage into today's 1,600m contest.

"She ran nicely with a penalty in the Nell Gwyn and saw out the race well enough," Gosden said. "The great trainer Vincent O'Brien was always keen to give his horses a prep run.

"It's suddenly become a bit of a cult thing to come here without one. It happened when the springs were cold and everyone had to come fresh. It's a bit of a fashion now."

Six of the seven most favoured fillies in the Group 1 contest have yet to run this season, including Hooray, last season's European champion juvenile filly.

Since the European Free Handicap was established in 1978, only six champions have won the 1000 Guineas, although in an illustration of thoroughbred fragility 18 did not turn up and run over the Rowley Mile.

Maqaasid lowered the track record at Royal Ascot last season when winning the Group 1 Queen Mary Stakes over 1,000m. As a January foal, she was entitled to be more mature than her peers but Gosden said his charge has a fair chance of lasting the extra 600m here.

"We're going from five furlongs to a mile," Gosden said. "She has quite a lot of stamina on the dam's side so she could be a bit of a sleeper on that front."

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

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.”

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Maqaasid can go the extra distance for Gosden

The daughter of Green Desert turned in a solid performance at Newmarket two weeks ago when finishing third to Barefoot Lady in the Nell Gwyn Stakes over 1,400m.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

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