Carlo Ancelotti has a preference for knockout football. Or at least that is what he told us in his entertaining memoir, written six years ago, which he entitled I Prefer Cups, referencing the slight leaning in his earlier coaching career towards significant triumphs in knockout competitions rather than leagues.
Cups, and big finals, have again and again brought the best of Ancelotti. He is calm in make-or-break moments, clear-sighted on the high-wire of intense pressure.
His three Uefa Champions League titles make him the most successful coach of the 21st century in Europe's ultimate club competition. Bringing a 10th European Cup to Real Madrid last May makes him the most appreciated Madrid coach of the last 13 years.
But Sunday evening, he might not feel like that. A La Liga title may well be at stake in this Clasico, and, with victory, perhaps a unique record for Ancelotti, a man who, cup specialist or not, has been fairly handy at picking up championships, too.
Should Madrid beat Barcelona at Camp Nou and put themselves two points ahead of Barca with 10 matches left, his progress towards a Spanish league title to add to his Serie A (with AC Milan in 2003/04), Premier League (Chelsea, 2009/10), and Ligue 1 (Paris Saint Germain, 2012/13) crowns would look very favourable.
Ancelotti has two major trophies from his first season with Madrid, as well as the added premium that they were both won at the direct expense of a fierce rival, with Atletico beaten in the Champions League final and Barca defeated in the Copa del Rey final.
That Barcelona won nothing in his first campaign added an extra glint to those medals, at least in the eyes of his employers.
Yet he is under scrutiny 10 months later, his future cast in doubt. That Barcelona leapfrogged Madrid in the league table two weeks ago, after Ancelotti’s team had enjoyed a 127-day stint in top position, puts Ancelotti under the spotlight – from his directors and president, from the crowd at the Santiago Bernabeu, from the Spanish media, and perhaps from the ghosts of times past, when a younger Ancelotti had a reputation as a coach liable to let advantages slip.
This he did at Juventus, where a 3-1 lead in a Champions League semi-final turned into a defeat against Manchester United; as he did at Milan, where 3-0 up in a European Cup final against Liverpool turned into silver medals for his side.
Those setbacks are a long way back in history. The concern for Ancelotti is that the swaggering 22-match sequence of wins, across all competitions, that his Madrid compiled in the autumn and winter also seems distant past.
Optimistically, he thought his players recovered some of that old confidence last weekend, in the 2-0 win against Levante.
“What I saw in the first half made me happy,” he said.
But then the doubts of recent months resurfaced: “But the second half worried me. Against Barcelona, we need to be at our best the whole game.”
Ancelotti has followed one powerful dogma this season, and that is faith in his best XI.
He hardly rotated players during the busy, buoyant streak through October, November and December, and the slump since then has revealed symptoms of tiredness, and a run of important injuries.
He knows Madrid are fortified by the return as a pairing of Sergio Ramos and Pepe in central defence, that Luka Modric, back after a long absence, is key.
What he really needs, though, is the Cristiano Ronaldo of late 2014, not the tetchy, misfiring version that has spluttered through 2015 so far.
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A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
The Gentlemen
Director: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant
Three out of five stars
Sam Smith
Where: du Arena, Abu Dhabi
When: Saturday November 24
Rating: 4/5
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.”
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The Specs
Engine 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp (542bhp in GTS model)
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000 (Dh549,000 for GTS)
Company Profile
Founder: Omar Onsi
Launched: 2018
Employees: 35
Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)
Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners
Western Region Asia Cup Qualifier
Results
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by 12 runs
Kuwait beat Iran by eight wickets
Oman beat Maldives by 10 wickets
Bahrain beat Qatar by six wickets
Semi-finals
UAE v Qatar
Bahrain v Kuwait
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
