Real Madrid's Karim Benzema during a training session at the team's training grounds outside Madrid, Spain, November 7, 2015. Benzema was placed under formal judicial investigation on Thursday in connection with an alleged attempt to blackmail fellow-France soccer international Mathieu Valbuena with the use of a sex video. REUTERS/Susana Vera
Real Madrid's Karim Benzema during a training session at the team's training grounds outside Madrid, Spain, November 7, 2015. Benzema was placed under formal judicial investigation on Thursday in connShow more

Sport

Rafa Benitez backs scandal-hit Karim Benzema ahead of Real Madrid’s visit to Sevilla

French strtiker will not be fit to face Sevilla on Sunday. The club are standing by Benzema, who was put under formal judicial investigation in connection with an alleged attempt to blackmail Lyon forward Mathieu Valbuena.

Reuters

July 21, 2017

MADRID // Real Madrid manager Rafa Benitez has given his full support to Karim Benzema over his involvement in a sextape scandal but the French strtiker will not be fit to face Sevilla in Primera Liga on Sunday.

The club are standing by Benzema who was put under formal judicial investigation on Thursday in connection with an alleged attempt to blackmail Lyon forward Mathieu Valbuena with the use of a sex video.

President Florentino Perez has expressed his confidence that Benzema’s actions were in good faith and that he is completely innocent.

“I have spoken to him but as he is not going to play I don’t want to talk too much about it. He has my total support,” Benitez told a news conference.

“I hope he gets fit quickly and can get back to enjoying playing on the pitch.

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“He is in the final part of his recovery and we have decided to leave him out so that he can be 100 per cent and return fresh. He is in good spirits.”

Benzema injured his hamstring playing for France last month and has missed the last five matches for Real.

Real are joint top of La Liga with Barcelona on 24 points from 10 games but Benitez has come under pressure for the lack of entertaining football.

He is, however, boosted by the return of Gareth Bale from injury for a difficult away game against Sevilla even though the Andalusian side have not been playing at their best and lie in 11th place on 12 points.

It is the final La Liga match before the international break and Real then face arch-rivals Barca at the Bernabeu on November 21.

“My main concern at the moment is the match against Sevilla and so I am not thinking too much about El Clasico,” said Benitez.

“It will be a difficult stadium to play in because the Sevilla fans give a lot of support and it is great team. Especially in the last few years they have shown their strengths in the Europa League.”

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Saudi National Day

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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The tax authority is yet to release a list of the taxed products, but it appears likely that sugary iced teas and cold coffees will be hit.

For instance, the non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.

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