• Kristina Vogel of Germany. Getty Images
    Kristina Vogel of Germany. Getty Images
  • Moritz Furste of Germany. Getty Images
    Moritz Furste of Germany. Getty Images
  • Kim Rhode of the United States. Getty Images
    Kim Rhode of the United States. Getty Images
  • Water polo, Spain v Croatia on Tuesday, August 9. Reuters
    Water polo, Spain v Croatia on Tuesday, August 9. Reuters

Sport

Rio 2016: Five to watch Day 7 – Athletics off the blocks, hockey heavyweights collide

Graham Caygill

August 12, 2016

  • English
  • Arabic

Athletics, cycling and hockey all feature at the Olympic Games on Friday, August 12, while The National sports editor Graham Caygill takes you through the action in Rio on Day 7. All event times UAE.

• Rio 2016 TV: How to watch the Olympics in the UAE + schedules

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1 Athletics

The first athletics action at the Games begins today at the Olympic Stadium. The first gold medal will be decided in the women’s 10,000m, which starts at 6.10pm UAE time, with the UAE’s Alia Saeed among the field taking part as Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba looks to repeat her gold from the 2012 Games in London.

2 Cycling

The second day of competition at the Rio Olympic Velodrome is highlighted by the women’s team sprint, which will see Germany’s Kristina Vogel and Miriam Welte look to repeat their 2012 triumph in London. Proceedings start at 11pm UAE time, with China and Australia expected to be Germany’s main challengers for the gold medal.

3 Hockey

Today’s clash at 8.30pm UAE time in the men’s tournament between Germany and Netherlands is intriguing and not just because it is a re-match of the 2012 gold medal match, which went the Germans’ way. Both sides are already assured spots in the knockout stages, but this will decides who wins Group B, with Germany currently top with Moritz Furste their top scorer.

4 Shooting

The women’s skeet shooting gold medal will be decided today, with qualification beginning at 4pm UAE time, with the gold medal match scheduled to start at 10.25pm. 2012 gold medallist Kim Rhode starts as favourite, but will be challenged by Wei Ning, the Chinese shooter, who took silver four years ago.

5 Water polo

2012 Olympic champions Croatia have had a mixed title defence so far in Rio and still have work to do to reach the quarter-finals. They face Italy, the side they beat to win the gold in London four years ago, today, with the match starting at 5.20pm UAE time.

Kareem Shaheen on Canada
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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One in nine do not have enough to eat

Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.

One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.

The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.

Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.

It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.

On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.

Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.

 

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.”

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

PSA DUBAI WORLD SERIES FINALS LINE-UP

Men’s:
Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY)
Ali Farag (EGY)
Simon Rosner (GER)
Tarek Momen (EGY)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Nick Matthew (ENG)

Women's:
Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
Raneem El Welily (EGY)
Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
Laura Massaro (ENG)
Joelle King (NZE)
Camille Serme (FRA)
Nouran Gohar (EGY)
Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)

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