Rain forces washout in India’s second US-based T20 match with West Indies

Heavy rain forced the second Twenty20 international between West Indies and India at the Central Broward Regional Park on Sunday to be abandoned as a no-result.

After dismissing the world champions for 143, India were 15 for no loss in two overs when the rain came.

Ninety minutes later, and with the outfield soaked, play was abandoned, much to the irritation of the thousands of expatriates who turned out to watch India’s first ever weekend playing in the US.

West Indies claimed the two-match series after winning the first game on Saturday by just one run.

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Earlier, West Indies struggled to 143 all out with slow bowler Amit Mishra claiming a career best three for 24.

The Caribbean side had piled up 245 on Saturday in what was the third highest total of all time.

But the Florida pitch -- and eventually the weather -- turned its back on the strokemakers on Sunday.

Saturday century maker Evin Lewis, again standing in for the injured Chris Gayle, mustered just seven runs before he was caught at mid-off from the bowling of Mohammed Shami.

Fellow opener Johnson Charles looked set for another 50 but was dismissed seven runs short by recalled leg-break bowler Mishra who enticed a chance to Ajinkya Rahane at long-on.

The bowlers continued to apply the brakes with Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah getting rid of Lendl Simmons (19) and Marlon Samuels (5) respectively with the total on 76 by the 10th over.

Two overs and 22 runs later, the West Indies were six down with Ashwin having Kieron Pollard lbw for 13 and Bumrah clean bowling Andre Fletcher for three.

West Indies crawled past the 100-run mark in the 14th over; on Saturday, they were into three figures in the eighth.

Dwayne Bravo (three) tried to put his foot on the gas but his charge down the wicket was undone by a Mishra googly.

Andre Russell eked out 15 off 13 balls before he holed out off Bhuvneshwar Kumar with the score on 123.

Carlos Brathwaite (18) smashed a six and four off Mishra in the 18th over but the captain was bowled off the Indian’s last ball of his impressive spell.

Shami mopped up Samuel Badree for one with two balls of the innings left.

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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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