Michael Laudrup's concern at Swansea is on next game not next contract

DUBAI // Riding high in the English Premier League, a first major cup final on the horizon and in Dubai to escape Britain's cold snap, it would be easy to assume life could not get any better for Swansea City.

Yet the Welsh side received another jolt of good news yesterday when Michael Laudrup and Michu, two of the club's key contributors, reiterated their desire to remain for the long term at the Liberty Stadium.

In his first season at Swansea, Laudrup has led the South Wales side to seventh in the table and to this month's Capital One Cup final, prompting recent links to a number of high-profile coaching positions, most notably Real Madrid - the club with whom he won Spain's Primera Liga as a player - and Chelsea.

However, on Wednesday his agent told a Danish newspaper that negotiations regarding an extension to his two-year contract would begin "in the coming days" and, while Laudrup did not confirm or deny those comments, he said he envisages a bright future at Swansea.

"As I've said more than once, my intention is to stay," said the Dane, speaking during his side's midseason training camp at Dubai Sports City.

"I have a contract for next year as well. It's a very interesting team we're building here and again we'll try to build on it in the summer.

"But now we have to stay in the present, and that is to get as many points as possible in the league and to win the cup final, and then let's see what happens next season with some new players coming in."

Laudrup said a busy schedule that includes Sunday's league trip to Liverpool and the cup final on February 24 at Wembley Stadium against Bradford City, the League Two side, has not allowed him time to consider his future.

Discussions regarding prolonging his stay at Swansea constitute, for the moment, an unnecessary distraction.

"Right now, I'm focusing only on the [Liverpool] game," he said. "The matches are coming fast and I don't have time for anything else.

"And if there are some talks I have a person in charge of that. Me, I'm concerned only about the next two weeks.

"I've been a player at the top level for 17 or 18 years so I know you have to live in the present because you never know what will happen. So to make plans for the next three or four years is impossible in this world."

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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.”