Olympics: Caster Semenya alone 'holds the key to her' future

South African Caster Semenya says she will draw inspiration from Nelson Mandela and Maria Mutola as she seeks to reclaim her 800-metre crown at the London Games.

It was the political icon Mandela who stood by the 21 year old during her darkest days after winning the 2009 world title, when rivals questioned her gender after she was found to have three times the testosterone of an average female.

And Mutola, the Sydney Olympics 800m champion from Mozambique, rekindled the spirits of a shy woman born in a north-eastern South African village.

The sporting tale of Mokgadi Caster Semenya is one of triumph, humiliation and a resilience she hopes will reach a climax on August 11 with a gold medal after the 800m final in London.

The world athletics body IAAF took notice of previously unknown Semenya when she clipped almost eight seconds off her 800m time during 2009 and destroyed a star-studded field in Berlin to win the world title. Drug tests were followed by gender tests and the situation spiralled from there, with Caster complaining of "unwarranted and invasive scrutiny of the most intimate and private details of my being".

She was barred from the track for almost a year before being cleared to run again and her comeback was hampered by a lower-back injury and a growing belief that coach Michael Seme had taken her as far as he could.

"If I win gold, I will dedicate it to Nelson Mandela. He is a hero in South Africa and everything I do, I do for him," Semenya said.

"He motivated me during the dark days after my world title victory, made me believe in what I do best and that I could win more medals. Without his support, maybe I would not be where I am today."

If Mandela inspires Semenya, Mutola is the force driving her onwards.

Mutola had to compete in four Olympics before achieving her golden moment, and she is adamant Caster can climb to the middle of the podium much quicker.

"I believe she is far ahead of me as she clocked 1min 55.45sec at 18 [years old]. At that age I had not managed to break two minutes," said Mutola, a multiple world title winner.

"Had it not been for the issues that prevented her from running for some time after her Berlin triumph, Caster could have lowered her time to one minute, 51 or 52 seconds by now.

"Caster holds the key to her future. She must motivate herself, believe in herself. I sense that everything is falling into place and the perfect ending would be for her to win gold at her first Olympics."

The South African public and media consider Semenya the best medal bet among their athletes, although a glance at 800m times this year suggests the 2011 world championships silver medalist faces strong opposition in London.

You have to scroll past 39 times before reaching the best in 2012 by Semenya - 1:59.18.

The 2008 Olympic gold medalist, Pamela Jelimo of Kenya, has clocked five faster times and reigning world champion Mariya Savinova of Russia has three.

Jelimo and Semenya clashed late May in Czech city Ostrava and the Kenyan emerged a comfortable winner in 1:58.49 with Semenya second in 2:00.80 after leaving her push for the line too late.

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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.”

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