Tokyo Olympics organisers said Wednesday they may put off an announcement on how many fans can attend the Games until May or June, as surging coronavirus infections play havoc with preparations.
Athletes are also likely to face daily virus testing, rather than once every four days as originally planned.
Organisers have already barred overseas fans from the pandemic-delayed Games, and were expected to announce an upper limit on domestic spectators sometime in April.
But Tokyo 2020 president Seiko Hashimoto said they are now only likely to "decide a direction" this month, and the decision could come as late as June - possibly just a month before the Games open on July 23.
The move would further delay ticket sales, which were put on hold when the Olympics were postponed last year.
"The Covid-19 situation is changing as we speak," Hashimoto said after organisers had reported to an executive board meeting of the International Olympic Committee.
"There are only 93 days left to go. We would like to make a proper judgement, and we may need more time in order to be able to do that."
"We need to carefully make a final decision about the spectators. The timing could be May or June," added Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto.
Athletes are also likely to face a stricter testing regimen, as organisers prepare to release an updated version of their virus rulebooks "as soon as possible", Hashimoto said.
"In principle, tests will be conducted every day, but we are still in the process of taking the decision."
Test events delayed
Japan's latest rise in cases is causing further disruption for the postponed Games, with a number of test events delayed, cancelled or moved abroad.
In the latest upheaval, an artistic swimming qualifying competition has been moved from Japan, organisers said, and spectators will reportedly be barred from an athletics event at the main Olympic stadium.
The artistic swimming qualifier was originally set to take place in Tokyo in March before being rescheduled to May 1-4, but will now be held in June at "a location to be defined, outside Japan", organisers said late Tuesday.
World swimming governing body Fina said in a statement that "challenges related to the international calendar and the necessary adaptation of the venue to the Olympic Games operations" were behind the decision.
Fina has already rescheduled a Diving World Cup event in Tokyo and moved a marathon swimming Olympic qualifier from Japan to Portugal, amid reported dissatisfaction over virus countermeasures.
Japanese media said Wednesday that an athletics test event - which will double as a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet and feature athletes from overseas - will be held without spectators.
Organisers were set to allow 20,000 fans into the May 9 meet, according to Kyodo news agency, but tougher restrictions imposed by the Tokyo city government this month have forced a rethink.
Virus restrictions are expected to be tightened further this week, with Tokyo and several other regions seeking a state of emergency to tackle rising cases.
"Test events are a very important part of the preparation for the Games, so we want to hold them as scheduled," said Muto.
Despite the virus situation, Olympic organisers and local officials insist the Games can be held safely.
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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