Manchester City will face Real Madrid for the first time in a competitive match after being drawn against Jose Mourinho's side in the Champions League group stage.
City have the toughest group of all in Group D with the Spanish champions Real, the Dutch league winners Ajax and the German double winners Borussia Dortmund all dangerous opponents.
Chelsea, the defending European champions, also have a difficult-looking task in Group E along with Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus and Nordsjaelland.
Cristiano Ronaldo, the Real midfielder who was at the draw, said Group D was the toughest. "It is the most difficult group in my opinion and I think that's the same for most people," he said. "But we are champions of Spain and we are ready to compete with everybody."
While Dortmund are clear outsiders to win Group D, their manager Jurgen Klopp is relishing the challenge of facing three top teams.
"That is a spectacular group, three of the four teams have won the Champions League at least once," he said.
"There is lots of tradition and imagination in this group.
"Real are one of the best teams in the world, Manchester City haven't won the English title for nothing and have a huge amount of potential in their squad, while Ajax are traditionally very strong. As outsiders, we can achieve a lot."
Real's director of football Emilio Butragueno says Mourinho's players will be excited about the prospect of playing City.
"Playing in England is a great pleasure because the fans are extremely passionate," Butragueno told Sky Sports News.
"It's a unique experience so I'm sure they will be excited about it."
Meanwhile, Sir Alex Ferguson has told his Manchester United players they cannot afford to make the "stupid errors" they committed in Europe last season after they were handed another relatively easy-looking group, including Braga, Galatasaray and CFR Cluj.
The United manager is conscious that his side were predicted to make round two last year after being given a favourable draw against Benfica, Basel and Otelul Galati
"We have the experience of playing against Galatasaray in the past and we will always remember the 'Welcome to Hell' banners," Ferguson told ManUtd.com.
"So it's always a difficult type of match.
"We have drawn Portuguese clubs a number of times over the past few years - the likes of Benfica, Sporting [Lisbon] and Porto - so we have the experience of playing in Portugal on many occasions.
"Braga are one of the improving teams in that country.
"Obviously, we've never played Cluj before but, after the experience of last year, we don't want to make any stupid errors this time. We will play our strongest team to make sure we get through."
Group A
Porto (Portugal)
Dinamo Kiev (Ukraine)
Paris St-Germain (France)
Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
Group B
Arsenal (England)
Schalke (Germany)
Olympiakos (Greece)
Montpellier (France)
Group C
AC Milan (Italy)
Zenit St Petersburg (Russia)
Anderlecht (Belgium)
Malaga (Spain)
Group D
Real Madrid (Spain)
Manchester City (England)
Ajax (Holland)
Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Group E
Chelsea (England)
Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
Juventus (Italy)
Nordsjaelland (Denmark)
Group F
Bayern Munich (Germany)
Valencia (Spain)
Lille (France)
BATE Borisov (Belarus)
Group G
Barcelona (Spain)
Benfica (Portugal)
Spartak Moscow (Russia)
Celtic (Scotland)
Group H
Manchester United (England)
Braga (Portugal)
Galatasaray (Turkey)
CFR Cluj (Romania)
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Section 375
Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Richa Chadha, Meera Chopra & Rahul Bhat
Director: Ajay Bahl
Producers: Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak & SCIPL
Rating: 3.5/5
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
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Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
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Ukraine%20exports
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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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