World No 1 Novak Djokovic was disqualified in the US Open fourth round on Sunday after hitting a female line judge in the throat with a ball in the first set of his match against Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta.
Djokovic was becoming frustrated after failing to take the opening set, suffering a fall and having dropped serve to trail 5-6.
He hit a ball fairly hard to the back of the court, striking a female line judge.
Djokovic immediately apologised and stood over her before becoming involved in a lengthy exchange with the tournament referee.
In a statement on Instagram only hours after his sensational exit in New York, the Serbian world No 1 said he had been left "really sad and empty" by the controversy.
"I checked on the lines person and the tournament told me that thank God she is feeling ok," he wrote.
"I'm extremely sorry to have caused her such stress. So unintended. So wrong."
Under the rules of the game there is no option other than a default and despite him pleading that he had not meant to hit the official, he was eventually disqualified.
"As for the disqualification, I need to go back within and work on my disappointment and turn this all into a lesson for my growth and evolution as a player and human being," he said.
"I apologise to the @usopen tournament and everyone associated for my behaviour. I'm very grateful to my team and family for being my rock support, and my fans for always being there with me.
"Thank you and I'm so sorry."
After the incident, Djokovic shook hands with a stunned Carreno Busta and trudged off to face the music.
It was an incredible end to the top seed's hopes of winning an 18th Grand Slam title, which looked increasingly likely as the fortnight progressed.
"It's the right decision," British former player Tim Henman, who was disqualified from Wimbledon for a similar incident in 1995, told Amazon Prime.
"He is not aiming for the line judge, but has hit the ball away and you have to be responsible for your actions."
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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.”
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