The Rest of the World team after winning last year's edition of the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup.
The Rest of the World team after winning last year's edition of the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup.

Sport

Rest ready to defend

Tomorrow afternoon Ascot hosts its unique international team tournament, the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup.

ASCOT // Tomorrow afternoon Ascot hosts its unique international team tournament, the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup, which was announced in spectacular fashion at the Berkshire track yesterday. The world's two winning-most jockeys, the Brazilian legend Jorge Ricardo and the American Russell Baze, were both on hand in preparation to team up with their captain, Japan's Yutaka Take, to defend the title that the Rest of the World team won last year.

The competition structure features 12 riders split into four teams, Great Britain, Ireland, Europe and the Rest Of the World. Each jockey gains points for finishing in the first five, and the team with the highest total after the six races is declared the winner. The fields are restricted to a maximum of 10 runners. Ricardo and Baze are the only jockeys in the world to have surpassed the milestone of 10,000 winners, which averages out to almost a victory a day for 28 years. It sounds a tough regime, but it is not something that seems to have overly bothered either rider.

"It takes a lot of hard work," reflected Baze, who celebrated his 50th birthday yesterday. "To get up in the morning, get on horses, keep in touch with trainers, it takes a hell of a lot of endurance and dedication, but it's not really that hard for me to stay enthused about my job, I love doing it." Ricardo, who boasts a current world record for race victories of 10,299, was similarly enthusiastic: "For me, every victory is different, it brings a different feeling. The turf is my home."

The Brazilian, fresh from a five-timer at Palermo in Sicily on Sunday, was in an ebullient mood and could scent continued success: "It was a pleasant surprise to be invited to an event of such magnitude," he continued through his translator. "My hope is that we will be victorious." Yesterday's press conference was the first time that the pair had met, a fact not lost on the team manager James Willoughby, the Racing Post's chief correspondent.

"This is surely every racing fan's dream. It certainly is mine, and it is an honour to be in charge of the world's greatest riders. We are all very fortunate," he said. @Email: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.”

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In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

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Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

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