Ronnie O'Sullivan during his match with Mark Williams at the World Snooker Championships at the Crucible Theatre.
Ronnie O'Sullivan during his match with Mark Williams at the World Snooker Championships at the Crucible Theatre.
Ronnie O'Sullivan during his match with Mark Williams at the World Snooker Championships at the Crucible Theatre.
Ronnie O'Sullivan during his match with Mark Williams at the World Snooker Championships at the Crucible Theatre.

Sport

O'Sullivan is back on track

The Englishman roared back to top form with three centuries in seven frames as he knocked Mark Williams out of the World Championship.

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Ronnie O'Sullivan roared back to top form with three centuries in seven frames as he knocked Mark Williams out of the World Championship. The 34-year-old had been unconvincing during his opening clash with Liang Wenbo, and also seemed to be lacking focus for parts of the opening two sessions against Williams. But it was a different story yesterday as the crowd was treated to a vintage O'Sullivan show.

O'Sullivan fired in breaks of 53, 104, 75, 111 and 106 to win 13-10 and book a last-eight meeting with Mark Selby or Stephen Hendry and extend his Crucible record against Williams to three wins from three meetings. Meanwhile, Neil Robertson has saluted Steve Davis's efforts ahead of their quarter-final showdown today. The support for Davis, 52, in his 30th year of competing at the Crucible has grown since he knocked out John Higgins, the defending champion. Robertson admires the achievement, but is unlikely to be handing out favours in their last-eight clash.

Barry Hearn, who manages Davis and chairs the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, has led calls for the six-time former world champion to be knighted. Robertson, an Australian, backs that: "What more can Steve do? Not only on the table but also with the stuff he does off the table; it's fantastic seeing such a great ambassador for the game putting so much back into it. "He's won so many tournaments and for him to be able to pick himself up and practise so hard for this event, and to beat the world No 1 the way he has, is absolutely amazing and an inspiration for anyone who thinks they're coming to the end of their career." Robertson scraped through to the last eight after fighting back from 11-5 down to beat Martin Gould 13-12.

"What it will do for the rest of my tournament is mean that no matter how far I am behind I'll know I can win," he said. * PA

While you're here

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.”

The President's Cake

Director: Hasan Hadi

Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem 

Rating: 4/5

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