Jamaica's sprinter Usain Bolt speaks to the media ahead of the Golden Spike Athletic meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on Monday. Petr David Josek / AP Photo
Jamaica's sprinter Usain Bolt speaks to the media ahead of the Golden Spike Athletic meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on Monday. Petr David Josek / AP Photo
Jamaica's sprinter Usain Bolt speaks to the media ahead of the Golden Spike Athletic meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on Monday. Petr David Josek / AP Photo
Jamaica's sprinter Usain Bolt speaks to the media ahead of the Golden Spike Athletic meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on Monday. Petr David Josek / AP Photo

Usain Bolt leaves door open to continue career beyond World Championships


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Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt has said he is considering the possibility of continuing beyond the 2017 World Championships although his career will conclude this season.

Bolt, 30, had previously said his final race would be at the London Stadium in August, bringing an end to the most successful sprint career in athletics history.

However, Bolt appeared to leave his options open after revealing he had spoken with coach Glen Mills about whether the World Championships would indeed by his final event.

"We haven't fully made up our mind on what we're doing yet," he said on Monday ahead of the Golden Spike Athletic meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

"I'm not worrying about that until the World Championships or at least getting close to it.

"Right now, I'm just focused on getting through the season.

"I just like entertaining the crowd. I definitely want to try and enjoy every minute of it - it won't be the same sat in the stadium."

Bolt is an eight-time Olympic champion having won gold in the men's 100 metres, 200m and 4x100m relay at Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016. His 4x100m relay gold from Beijing was later stripped after Nestor Carter failed a doping test.

At Beijing, Bolt became the first man in Olympic history to win the 100m and 200m in record times. Nine of the fastest 30 times over 100m belong to Bolt, including three of the top four.

"It's just been a great career. I've really enjoyed the ups and downs, all the experience I've gathered, all I've been through, the happiness and the sadness," Bolt said.

"It's been a wonderful career and I've done everything I've wanted to do and it's coming to an end and I'm fine with it.

"It's an emotional season."

Bolt also reiterated that he would not be defending his 200m title in London.

"People keep asking, but no," he said.

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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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