Ricardo Quaresma’s double in the first 10 minutes against Bayern Munich was another tantalising glimpse of what might have been if the mercurial forward had harnessed his talent more effectively.
At the age of 31, Quaresma, who inspired FC Porto to a 3-1 win in Wednesday’s quarter-final first leg, seems to be trying to make up for lost time after a career punctuated by tantrums and criticism that he does not play for the team.
Raised at the Sporting Lisbon youth academy at the same time as Cristiano Ronaldo, many felt at the time that Quaresma was the more likely of the pair to set the football world alight.
Instead, Ronaldo has gone on to become the world’s top player while Quaresma’s misfortunes have included being kicked out of Turkish club Besiktas and missing out on three successive World Cups.
An early move from Sporting to Barcelona failed to work out, as Quaresma became frustrated at being left on the bench by Frank Rijkaard.
He left after one season and moved to Porto, where coach Jesualdo Ferreira took him under his wing and coaxed the best out of the temperamental forward.
Quaresma enjoyed four successful seasons with Porto before taking the plunge with Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan, but quickly found himself out of favour.
He was enticed to Chelsea on loan by former Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. However, the Brazilian was fired just after Quaresma arrived and he again found himself out of favour, making just four appearance in six months.
Quaresma returned to Inter, where he effectively sat and watched from the bench as Mourinho’s side swept to a treble.
"I made the wrong decisions at key moments in my career. I wanted everything quickly, and this only harmed me," Quaresma admitted in an interview last year with O Jogo.
From that point, it went from bad to worse; Quaresma went to Besiktas but fell out with coach Carlos Carvalhal, at one stage allegedly throwing a water bottle at him, and the club terminated his contract six months later.
He then moved to the UAE and joined Al Ahli in Dubai, but failed to settle there either.
However, at the start of 2014, Porto came to the rescue. He was greeted by 10,000 fans at his first training session and quickly found himself back in favour.
It was not all plain sailing; he had to be restrained by his teammates after losing his temper at the end of a game against Nacional and, despite being included in Portugal’s provisional World Cup squad, was cut from the final 23 by Paulo Bento.
But critics say Quaresma is a new player this season, unselfish and prepared to accept being left on the bench or substituted.
“The idea that has been created about him is unfair,” former Porto teammate Andre Castro told the website Maisfutebol last week.
“He has always been an excellent colleague to have in the dressing room. Yes, he is irreverent and eccentric, but he is a great friend and an exemplary worker.”
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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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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
