Presvis faces Musir test in Champions Mile in Hong Kong

The value of the form on Dubai World Cup night is put on the line this afternoon when Presvis leads a stellar cast of Meydan performers in the Champions Mile in Hong Kong.

Luca Cumani's enigmatic Dubai Duty Free winner is joined in the contest by Musir, last season's dual UAE Classic victor, who is trained by Mike De Kock.

Included in the home defence of the Dh5.6 million prize is the Tony Cruz-trained Beauty Flash, who finished down in eighth place to Presvis at Meydan racecourse last month, and Sunny King, who finished in third place behind Rocket Man in the Golden Shaheen for John Moore.

No visiting horse has ever won the Group 1 Champions Mile since the race was opened to international challengers back in 2005.

Cumani and De Kock, however, are two of the leading practitioners in international racing.

Cumani saddled Presvis to win the QE II Cup at Sha Tin in 2009 and Falbrav to victory in the Hong Kong Cup in 2003. The South African has tasted success in the special administrative region with Irridescence, Archipenko and Eagle Mountain.

Both Presvis and Musir are taking a step back in trip from their exertions in Dubai. The move will better suit Musir, as four of his five successes have come at the mile distance or shorter.

"There are a few question marks as Musir drops back in trip and returns to turf," De Kock told The National.

"I suppose it is fair to say he's better at a mile and the run behind Skysurfers in the Firebreak worked out very well as he went on to win the Godolphin Mile.

"He's got that good acceleration and turf shouldn't be a problem either as he goes very well on Tapeta, and Tapeta is very similar to turf."

Presvis, who is the highest-rated challenger, has never won at a mile and a fast pace is essential to the seven-year-old's success.

Cumani had entered his charge in the QEII on Sunday, but when he saw the declarations, and that regular jockey Ryan Moore would be engaged in England, he changed his mind.

"By running Presvis in the Mile and not the QEII I can have Ryan on board," Cumani said.

"What's more, there seems to be no pace in the QEII whereas in the Mile there are at least two front- runners."

De Kock also noted that the dual Champions Mile winner Able One likes to force the speed and that Beauty Flash, who is drawn widest of all the 14 runners, will have to tack across in front to have any chance at all of being first across the finish line.

"There are two to three horses who look to be gas but I'm not convinced," he said.

"In races like these it does not always work out like that - nobody wants to force the pace for the others."

"If Able One gets an uncontested lead it will be slow, so we've got to hope Beauty Flash goes with him from the outside draw."

sports@thenational.ae

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

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.”