UAE cyclist Yousif Mirza competed in the Olympic road race on Saturday in Rio. Wam
UAE cyclist Yousif Mirza competed in the Olympic road race on Saturday in Rio. Wam
UAE cyclist Yousif Mirza competed in the Olympic road race on Saturday in Rio. Wam
UAE cyclist Yousif Mirza competed in the Olympic road race on Saturday in Rio. Wam

Sport

Rio 2016: UAE cyclist Yousif Mirza leaves his mark on first day of the Olympics

The UAE’s first involvement at the Rio Olympic Games ended on Saturday as Yousif Mirza participated in the 237.5-kilometre road race, one of the Games first big events, writes Osman Samiuddin.

Osman Samiuddin

August 06, 2016

  • English
  • Arabic

The UAE's first involvement at the Rio Olympic Games ended on Saturday as Yousif Mirza participated in the 237.5-kilometre road race, one of the Games first big events. The Emirati was not given a finishing classification due to exceeding the race's time limit.

As it happened, the race finished with a dramatic denouement.

Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet eventually won gold in a thrilling three-way sprint finish, edging past Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang in the final 100m. Rafal Majka, from Poland, finished with the bronze.

Van Avermaet, 31, is a seasoned rider and wore the yellow jersey during the Tour de France for a few days last month, and has a number of Classics wins.

“This is the best title you can have, Olympic champion,” Van Avermaet said. “I had a great day and everything went perfect in the final 15km. Lots of guys crashed trying to take risks. I just kept it safe, stayed focus, I knew I had a good sprint. I caught [Rafal] Majka, and I knew I had the best sprint of the final two.”

The permutation of that final three was only possible after Vincenzo Nibali, the Giro d’Italia winner, crashed out on the final descent of the course with less than 15km to go. Nibali was one of the race favourites, given the number of climbs the course had and he was not the only rider to crash during the race – Team GB’s Geraint Thomas fell soon after Nibali, but managed to brush himself off, get back up and finish the race.

The crash left Majka in the lead, though he was quickly hauled down by Van Avermaet and Fuglsang.

There was non-cycling drama during the race as a bomb squad blew up an unattended bag near the finish line in a controlled explosion.

For Mirza, the UAE's best rider, the target was always to try and break away early. "I want to be in an early breakaway," he told The National on Friday, "and to show our flag at the front."

“It’s a great feeling to be here and the opening ceremony was a special moment. I hope it’s not the last time for me at the Olympics.”

osamiuddin@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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Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

Bert van Marwijk factfile

Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder

Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia

Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands

Kalra's feat
  • Becomes fifth batsman to score century in U19 final
  • Becomes second Indian to score century in U19 final after Unmukt Chand in 2012
  • Scored 122 in youth Test on tour of England
  • Bought by Delhi Daredevils for base price of two million Indian rupees (Dh115,000) in 2018 IPL auction

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Director: Athale

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