FLORENCE, Italy // Roma’s superb start to the season continued with a 5-0 rout of Bologna at the Olympic Stadium which restored their two-point cushion at the top of Serie A on Sunday.
Roma became the first team since Juventus in the 2005/2006 season to win their opening six games and claimed their first victory with a margin of five goals or more since a 7-0 rout of Catania in November 2006.
Rudi Garcia’s side now lead Napoli and Juventus by two points with fourth-placed Inter, held earlier on Sunday at Cagliari, a further two points adrift.
While Garcia continues to play down Roma’s title hopes, midfielder Daniele De Rossi said: “I think we’ve shown we’re a really strong squad and can achieve our objective of getting back into European competition.”
A week after claiming his maiden goal for Rudi Garcia’s side, Gervinho, the former Arsenal striker, starred again for the hosts hitting a brace with goals in either half.
However it was Alessandro Florenzi who started the rout, beating Gianluca Curci from close range after a poor clearance from Miralem Pjanic’s free kick.
Ivorian Gervinho made it two when he picked up the ball in midfield and ran unchallenged past a static Bologna defence to beat Curci with a right-foot strike.
Roma went in for the half-time interval 3-0 up after Mehdi Benatia bundled a left-foot volley past Curci from close range from Francesco Totti’s corner in the 25th minute.
Gervinho took his second just after the hour, this time collecting Kevin Strootman’s through ball on the left flank before turning his marker and beating Curci with a right-foot stike.
It was Gervinho’s first brace since hitting two for Arsenal against Southampton 13 months ago.
Adem Ljajic, a second-half substitute, completed the rout when he sent a delightful chip past Curci in the 85th minute.
Earlier a second-half header from French midfield sensation Paul Pogba secured a 1-0 derby win for Juventus at Torino.
Inter Milan were seven minutes from also going on to 16 points when Argentine striker Mauro Icardi gave them a 1-0 second half lead at Cagliari before Belgium’s Radja Nainggolan levelled for the home side in a 1-1 draw.
Lazio lose to basement side Sassuolo
Elsewhere, rock bottom Sassuolo enjoyed a morale-boosting afternoon as they came back from 2-0 down to force a 2-2 home draw with Lazio while Cantania scored either side of half-time to ease past Chievo 2-0.
A 74th-minute penalty from Brazilian 21-year-old Jorginho was the difference in Verona's 2-1 win over Livorno and Atalanta eased away from the relegation zone with a valuable 2-0 victory over Udinese.
Napoli too good for Genoa
On Saturday, Goran Pandev ended his recent goal drought with a first-half brace to secure a 2-0 away win at Genoa to put Napoli top.
Pandev had gone nine games without hitting the net since scoring against Pescara last April.
But with coach Rafael Benitez resting forwards Marek Hamsik and Gonzalo Higuain ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash against Arsenal at the Emirates, Pandev made the most of a rare start with strikes in the 14th and 25th minutes.
Benitez said: “I’m really happy because we got the win against a team that was determined and showed a lot of character and quality football.
“It’s just a shame we didn’t put the game beyond reach earlier with a third goal, we had the opportunities.”
AC Milan claimed only their second win in six games when Valter Birsa's 46th minute goal secured a 1-0 win at home to Sampdoria.
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About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
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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.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Engine 60kwh FWD
Battery Rimac 120kwh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry
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AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Steve Smith (capt), David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.
The Gandhi Murder
- 71 - Years since the death of MK Gandhi, also christened India's Father of the Nation
- 34 - Nationalities featured in the film The Gandhi Murder
- 7 - million dollars, the film's budget
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The specs: 2019 Lincoln MKC
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Dubai World Cup nominations
UAE: Thunder Snow/Saeed bin Suroor (trainer), North America/Satish Seemar, Drafted/Doug Watson, New Trails/Ahmad bin Harmash, Capezzano, Gronkowski, Axelrod, all trained by Salem bin Ghadayer
USA: Seeking The Soul/Dallas Stewart, Imperial Hunt/Luis Carvajal Jr, Audible/Todd Pletcher, Roy H/Peter Miller, Yoshida/William Mott, Promises Fulfilled/Dale Romans, Gunnevera/Antonio Sano, XY Jet/Jorge Navarro, Pavel/Doug O’Neill, Switzerland/Steve Asmussen.
Japan: Matera Sky/Hideyuki Mori, KT Brace/Haruki Sugiyama. Bahrain: Nine Below Zero/Fawzi Nass. Ireland: Tato Key/David Marnane. Hong Kong: Fight Hero/Me Tsui. South Korea: Dolkong/Simon Foster.
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Fixtures:
Wed Aug 29 – Malaysia v Hong Kong, Nepal v Oman, UAE v Singapore
Thu Aug 30 - UAE v Nepal, Hong Kong v Singapore, Malaysia v Oman
Sat Sep 1 - UAE v Hong Kong, Oman v Singapore, Malaysia v Nepal
Sun Sep 2 – Hong Kong v Oman, Malaysia v UAE, Nepal v Singapore
Tue Sep 4 - Malaysia v Singapore, UAE v Oman, Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu Sep 6 – Final
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
Bio:
Favourite Quote: Prophet Mohammad's quotes There is reward for kindness to every living thing and A good man treats women with honour
Favourite Hobby: Serving poor people
Favourite Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite food: Fish and vegetables
Favourite place to visit: London
