Michael Schumacher's return to racing prompted his fellow German countrymen to up their game.
Michael Schumacher's return to racing prompted his fellow German countrymen to up their game.
Michael Schumacher's return to racing prompted his fellow German countrymen to up their game.
Michael Schumacher's return to racing prompted his fellow German countrymen to up their game.

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Germans to the fore in Bahrain practice

Adrian Sutil is quickest in the morning session, with Nico Rosberg in his Mercedes leading the timesheets in the afternoon in Bahrain.

Gary Meenaghan

March 13, 2010

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SAKHIR // It is perhaps not surprising that on the day Michael Schumacher officially returned to Formula One, German domination was evident. Yet while four of the six fastest times posted during free practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix yesterday were set by those representing the black, red and yellow of Deutschland, it was not the seven-time world champion who led the pack.

Force India's Adrian Sutil, of Germany, finished fastest in the morning, but it was his compatriot Nico Rosberg, teammate of the 41-year-old Schumacher at Mercedes GP, who clocked the quickest time of the afternoon at 1min 55.409sec leading McLaren's Lewis Hamilton by 0.445. Schumacher finished third, narrowly ahead of the reigning champion Jenson Button, while the German duo Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull and Nico Hulkenberg of Williams were close behind.

While Schumacher, returning after three years in retirement, admitted to feeling "a little rusty" and conceded he had to quickly "get back into the routine", Rosberg looked composed as he completed 23 laps of the extended Sakhir track. "We improved the car over the course of the day, but it didn't feel great initially with the new track, lower down-force, and the conditions were very sandy in the morning," said the 24-year-old. "We had a few balance issues to work on, but it came together very well in the afternoon. There are areas where we can still improve, but overall, we learned a great deal so it's a positive start to the weekend."

The Bahrain circuit has been lengthened by almost a kilometre to include eight new turns, but the changes have not been well received by the 23 drivers who tested it for the first time yesterday. Button, who won here last year, complained of his head "bouncing around all over the place" because of new undulations, while Renault's Robert Kubica added: "The new part does not look very interesting at all. It is very slow with lots of bumps and is tough on the tyres. I definitely prefer the old layout."

And it is not only on the track that teams have grievances. Kubica's boss at Renault, Bob Bell, accused McLaren of making a mockery of the F1 rulebook after the British manufacturers utilised a rear wing that appears to be fed by a duct that can be affected by the driver's body movement. "They have driven a carthorse through the spirit of the rules and regulations," said Bell of McLaren, whose controversial body fitting was deemed legal on Thursday by the FIA, world motor sport's governing body. "They have opened up another arms race; it's going to cost everybody a lot of money. The governing bodies need to be a lot stronger with these things."

Meanwhile, Bell's predecessor at Renault, Flavio Briatore, has vowed never to return to the sport, despite having his indefinite ban lifted. The Italian, expelled by the FIA last year following alleged race-fixing at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, was unequivocal when asked if he had intentions of returning to the sport he was involved in for more than 20 years: "I exclude it 100 per cent," he said.

gmeenaghan@thenational.ae

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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