Only last month, Real Madrid fans whistled derisively at Cristiano Ronaldo. The dissenters made their point as Real laboured to a 1-0 victory over Osasuna in their first home game of the season, the negative reaction annoying the world's most expensive player.
"I don't agree with the boos," Ronaldo said. "It would be better if fans spent their energy that they use booing us in supporting us instead."
The mood was not positive, the frustration clear. But it was understandable. Jose Mourinho, the new manager, had only been in charge for two games. He asked for patience, but fans heard that for much of last season and - perhaps naively - they expected his side to hit the ground running. They did not want another season trailing Barcelona from the start.
Not that there was much justification for criticising Ronaldo. He scored 26 league goals in 29 starts in his first season in Spain. Throw in another seven in six Champions League games and you get the kind of freaky statistics only applicable to the planet's finest.
Happily for Ronaldo, much has changed since last month. Real top the league and Mourinho's side is coming together faster than anyone could have hoped. True, they have yet to meet a side from the top six, but they are pulverizing opponents week after week.
And in Europe, nobody could accuse AC Milan of being also-rans. Real brushed them aside with impunity last week.
At their heart is a Ronaldo displaying form unseen since he was voted the world's best player while with Manchester United in 2008.
Ronaldo leads the race for the Pichichi (Spain's top scorer award) with 10 goals from eight league games - twice as many as Lionel Messi, the holder. He has taken 62 shots at goal in the league, far more than any other player, despite the forward being a marked man: he has suffered 20 fouls, Messi just nine.
On Saturday night, Ronaldo scored four goals against Racing Santander in a 6-1 demolition. His efficiency was staggering: he had six shots, five of which were on target and four of which were goals.
Ronaldo is more confident than he has ever been in Spain. His passing, combination play and movement is reminiscent of that at Old Trafford and he is starting to make surging runs from behind defenders that are almost impossible to counter.
Ronaldo has become the focus for a young, stable, team. Youthful emerging talents like Mesut Ozil, Angel Di Maria and Sami Khedira look up to him, while Gonzalo Higuain and Xabi Alonso link up superbly with him.
Five players have started every league game, while five more have only failed to start in one or two. There is a togetherness and stability seldom seen in Madrid, where the media demand changes and the president influences selection. Until Mourinho.
The new man makes all the decisions, though some of the hardest ones were taken before he arrived.
He does not have to consider how many minutes Raul will play, or whether Guti is speaking to him or not - those two stalwarts have left the club. He has commanded absolute control and respect in just three months, partly because he has told his players that he knows how to beat Barca.
Players not getting a look in like Karim Benzema, Sergio Canales and Esteban Granero may not be as enamoured with the new regime, but the fans are, with the critics long since silenced by Mourinho's mantra of playing his best team all the time.
It will be interesting to see if they have the energy to compete on three fronts come March - the third starting tonight with a Copa Del Rey match against third division Real Murcia.
Some of the fringe players will expect to start, but then so does Ronaldo. And who could blame him, since it's so enjoyable playing for Real Madrid once again?
sports@thenational.ae
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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.”
