The former Scotland and Manchester United defender Gordon McQueen said there was only one way for a footballer to go after leaving Old Trafford: down.
He was speaking from experience and countless players would agree. But it is not always true.
Cristiano Ronaldo did not think that he made a step down leaving for Real Madrid, nor did Gerard Pique, departing for Barcelona.
Paul Pogba, who left Manchester United for Juventus, is convinced that he made the correct decision by leaving Old Trafford in June.
Given that he is now playing for the Juventus first team and earning far more than he would have done if he had stayed in Manchester, where he would have been on the fringes of the squad, he is entitled to feel vindicated.
Unlike almost every player who leaves United, Ronaldo, Pique and Pogba are different. The moves were their decisions, and not those of Sir Alex Ferguson, who had decided that players from Jaap Stam to David Beckham, Juan Sebastian Veron to Ruud van Nistelrooy no longer had a future at the club.
Ferguson was not pleased and accused Pogba of not showing United respect when he refused to sign a contract earlier this year - said to be for £20,000 (Dh117,000) a week, the biggest offered to a United reserve team player.
Such offers cause tension among homegrown reserve players, who have long resented imported youngsters being paid far more than them.
Rejection is not easy, but Ferguson felt Pogba's head had been turned by his outspoken agent Mino Raiola, who also looks after Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and that he should be patient. He felt the midfielder, 19, had a great future ahead of him but that Pogba was not ready to be a regular starter for United and that his football should come in reserve-team games in front of three-figure crowds and the occasional first-team appearance in a lesser competition.
The Frenchman thought otherwise, just like Pique and Giuseppe Rossi. They were impatient to start matches because they felt good enough, and they were.
Ferguson's problem is keeping happy a huge, well-established squad. He is happy to have 25 players vying for places, but players who do not start matches want more.
Sometimes they go to a smaller club, like Rossi, who thrived at Villarreal. Players are usually sent out on loan and their immediate ambitions are sated, Tom Clevereley's loan spell at Wigan helping him become a United first teamer.
Pogba has found the first-team football he craved in Turin with Juventus, a huge club, the current champions of Italy, who promised him what Ferguson could not - more regular starts, even in a midfield comprised of Andrea Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio and Arturo Vidal.
Pogba wanted to follow in the path of the former French midfielders Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane, who both became the best footballers in the world while at Juventus, in the 1980s and 1990s.
Pogba, who joined United from Le Harve in controversial circumstances, amid denied accusations of large inducements in 2006, has long been compared to another great Gallic midfielder, Patrick Vieira.
Pogba has started three league games so far and been a playing sub in three more, plus a further two in the Champions League; he did not start a single game at United.
He has scored two goals, including a winning goal in the top-of-the-table clash between Juventus and Napoli. The goal, a volley from outside the area, had teammates, fans and the Italian media buzzing.
He was the man of the match against Bologna two weeks ago and saw a goal disallowed.
He was on the bench for last week's Derby d'Italia (because both clubs enjoy huge countrywide support) against Inter, which saw Juve's 49-match unbeaten run come to an end. Such has been Pogba's impact, many were wondering why he had not started the game.
He was on the bench for last week’s Derby d’Italia against Inter, which saw Juve’s 49-match unbeaten run come to an end. Such has been Pogba’s impact, many were wondering why he had not started the game.
Juve then announced yesterday that they have dropped Pogba for tonight’s clash at Pescara, because he arrived late for two training sessions, but it should only be a minor setback for the youngster.
From United's reserves to being a darling of the Old Lady in six months, Pogba looks to have called it right.
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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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Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
