DUBAI // A little jittery before the start of his Dubai Tour title defence, Marcel Kittel showed few nerves on the homestretch, timing his charge to perfection to claim victory on the opening 181km Nakheel Stage.
The German, one of the fastest in the sport, made his surge 150 metres from the finish line outside the Atlantis hotel on Palm Jumeirah and, with great support from his Quick-Step Floors teammates, crossed the finish line ahead of Dylan Groenewegen (Team Lotto NL – Jumbo) and 2015 Dubai Tour champion Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data), who suffered a late puncture.
“We were always in a good position, not really in the front, but we chose the right distance to go for it,” said Kittel, who won the opening stage and the final stage last year to claim the overall title as well. “After we passed the last roundabout, we tried to find each other and we went full gas to the finish line. It worked really well.”
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Read more
■ Stage 1: Puncture dashes Mark Cavendish's hopes of victory
■ Marcel Kittel: Dubai Tour champion ready to hit the ground running in 2017
■ Dubai Tour 2017: Map and courses for all five stages
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This was Quick-Step’s seventh win of 2017 and Kittel, 28, credited his teammates for delivering him perfectly to the homestretch.
“I think we did a very good job,” Kittel said. “The first race of the year, you are always insecure. You can have the strongest team in the world, but even then, you could be insecure because you really don’t know how well everyone will play together.
“But I knew with Fabio Sabatini, with Matteo Trentin, Davide Martinelli, we have really good guys. Also, Maximilian Schachmann did a really, really nice job at the finish. He was not just really strong, but he was also there at the right moment. We also had Julien Vermote showing his strength again today, together with Bob Jungels. A great champion, but he sacrificed himself at the front for us. That shows the great team spirit in Quick-Step Floors. The atmosphere is really good in the team.”
Kittel, however, cautioned against falling into the trap that a Stage 1 win in Dubai will mean honours here or in future races.
“It will be good to remember that it’s only January 31 today and my personal target, the Tour de France, is still five months to go,” he said. “It’s nice to start the season like this, but we should wait.
“Talking about the general classification [overall title] here: of course, it is still a goal. Now even more, but I think we should wait and see how it goes. On Hatta Dam [Stage 4], that’s one day where if you lose one or two seconds, it’s actually over. So you have to be careful on every stage.
“Actually, it is not safe to say before the last stage if you can go for it or not. Last year, I grabbed it with victories on Stage 1 and the last stage. So, it should be exciting until the end.”
Groenewegen, 23, who took the White Jersey on the opening day, fancies his chances after a strong finish on Stage 1.
“It’s a good result and I’m ahead of several top sprinters but yet, it’s not a win and that’s what I was looking for,” the Dutchman said. “We could have done better. It gives me hope for the coming days. I’m glad to be the best young rider but I want to win as well.”
STAGE 1 RESULTS:
1. Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors)
2. Dylan Groenewegen (Team Lotto NL - Jumbo)
3. Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data)
4. John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo)
5. Sasha Modolo (UAE Abu Dhabi).
JERSEYS
Blue Jersey (General individual classification by time): Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors)
Red Jersey (General individual classification by points): Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors)
White Jersey (Best Young Rider, born after January 1, 1992): Dylan Groenewegen (Team Lotto NL - Jumbo)
UAE Flag Jersey (Intermediate Sprint Jersey Classification): Nicola Boem (Bardiani CSF)
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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.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
