Opening Rugby Championship fixtures:Games can be watched on OSN Sports
Saturday: Australia v New Zealand, Sydney, 1pm (UAE)
Sunday: South Africa v Argentina, Port Elizabeth, 11pm (UAE)
Curtis Rona will make his debut and Kurtley Beale returns for Australia in the team named Thursday to face New Zealand in the Rugby Championship opener in Sydney this weekend.
Rona, the former National Rugby League winger, has replaced injured Western Force teammate Dane Haylett-Petty (bicep) and will make his first international appearance on the left wing, while Beale will play at inside centre.
The New Zealand-born Rona, 25, spent just one game on the wing for the Force this season and played at outside centre for the rest of the Super Rugby campaign.
Coach Michael Cheika believes Rona's aerial skills honed in rugby league will negate the world champions' intentions to target the Test rookie.
"He's run there pretty much since we got into camp and he's looked comfortable there and he's got excellent chat from the outside in," Cheika told reporters.
"He's played on the big stage before in rugby league, so I'm sure he'll handle it, no problem.
"Curtis has been picked because he's a high quality player. He's really shown a lot of enthusiasm, aggression, hungry to be involved in everything."
Rona added: "They can say whatever they want but I know myself what I'm capable of doing and I'm feeling really confident coming into this game.
"I think I've done enough to be able to master taking the ball in the air and I'm looking forward to that."
It is playmaker Beale's first international for the Wallabies since the 2015 World Cup final against the All Blacks in London.
The 60-capped utility back will start a Test with a backline featuring fly-half Bernard Foley and fullback Israel Folau for the first time.
Beale, who now plays for London Wasps, has an extraordinary record against the All Blacks in Australia with two wins, two draws and a single defeat in five Tests since 2011.
Rona's inclusion is one of five changes, among them Sean McMahon, Samu Kerevi and Henry Speight, to the starting XV that beat Italy 40-27 in Brisbane in June.
Beale will partner Queensland Reds' Kerevi in the centres after Kerevi missed the June home Test Series with an ankle injury.
McMahon also returns to the Test arena at No 8 after a wrist injury sidelined him during the mid-year internationals.
The All Blacks have dominated the Wallabies, losing only three of their last 29 trans-Tasman encounters and have held the Bledisloe Cup, symbol of trans-Tasman rugby supremacy, since 2003.
The Wallabies will be captained by openside flanker Michael Hooper following Stephen Moore's decision to step down after announcing he will retire from internationals at the end of this year.
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The biog
Title: General Practitioner with a speciality in cardiology
Previous jobs: Worked in well-known hospitals Jaslok and Breach Candy in Mumbai, India
Education: Medical degree from the Government Medical College in Nagpur
How it all began: opened his first clinic in Ajman in 1993
Family: a 90-year-old mother, wife and two daughters
Remembers a time when medicines from India were purchased per kilo
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Scores in brief:
Boost Defenders 205-5 in 20 overs
(Colin Ingram 84 not out, Cameron Delport 36, William Somerville 2-28)
bt Auckland Aces 170 for 5 in 20 overs
(Rob O’Donnell 67 not out, Kyle Abbott 3-21).
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
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In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
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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.”
Opening Rugby Championship fixtures:Games can be watched on OSN Sports
Saturday: Australia v New Zealand, Sydney, 1pm (UAE)
Sunday: South Africa v Argentina, Port Elizabeth, 11pm (UAE)
