Wasim Akram has said cricket cannot be kept away from Pakistan after watching the passion and successful staging of a limited over series against Zimbabwe — the country’s first in six years.
The 49-year-old former captain said watching the passion of the fans at Gaddafi Stadium reminded him of his playing days.
“It’s unbelievable (to watch international cricket here),” said Wasim on the sidelines of second day-night match in Lahore.
“That’s something which brought back the memories of my playing days.
“You can’t keep cricket away from Pakistan because the amount of passion and the amount of talent here.”
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Wasim praised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for making the series possible — the first in Pakistan since terrorists attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in March 2009.
Foreign teams refused to tour Pakistan over security fears and Zimbabwe only agreed to tour the country after being promised security arrangements normally reserved for state heads.
“It’s a great achievement by the PCB and I must thank the Zimbabwe cricket team that they are here and the passion is great with 40 plus degree heat in the middle of the summer and fans had to battle massive security to create this great atmosphere,” Wasim said.
Cricket starved fans packed the 27,000 capacity stadium in the preceding two Twenty20 matches which Pakistan won 2-0 and in the two one-day internationals.
Wasim hoped perceptions of other cricket playing countries will change gradually.
“This is the first step and slowly and gradually more teams will come. I hope that perceptions will change and I also hope that the cricketing world will take notice who have been lukewarm in praising this series,” he said.
Wasim hoped the International Cricket Council — who did not send their officials for this series on security fears — will be positive.
“ICC should have sent their officials but I can imagine that this is the first series and they were worried about the security of their officials, so hopefully when the second team comes here they will be more positive,” Wasim said.
Wasim said Pakistan cricket suffered badly in the wake of no international cricket for six years.
“When I was young I got motivated by watching Allan Border, Malcolm Marshall, Imran Khan and Javed Miandad on these grounds. I used to take the whole round when they used to practice so you get more motivation when you watch them in front of your own eyes.
“That was not available to fans and players so they suffered badly.”
Wasim hopes India revives cricketing ties with Pakistan.
“India versus Pakistan should happen, wherever it happens because the beauty of Indo-Pak cricket is unmatchable, no series can match that.
“People are starved of Indo-Pak cricket so they are desperately waiting for that.”
Pakistan are due to host India in the UAE in December this year pending New Delhi’s clearance.
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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.”
