Don Armand wasgiven his England debut by Eddie Jones against Argentina last year. David Rogers / Getty Images
Don Armand wasgiven his England debut by Eddie Jones against Argentina last year. David Rogers / Getty Images

Six Nations: Armand ready to play wherever needed as England face injury crisis ahead of Ireland clash



Don Armand is ready to play anywhere in England's back row after being called up as No 8 cover for Exeter colleague Sam Simmonds ahead of their Six Nations finale against Ireland.

Back-to-back defeats by Scotland and France have wrecked England's dreams of a third successive Six Nations title and now they will try to do to already-crowned champions Ireland what the Irish did to them in Dublin last season by denying the visitors a Grand Slam on Saturday.

It is 12 years since England last lost three games in a single Championship campaign.

But they are yet to be beaten at Twickenham since Australian coach Eddie Jones took charge following their first-round exit on home soil at the 2015 World Cup.

Following a 22-16 loss to France last weekend, England find themselves confronting a back-row injury crisis with both Nathan Hughes and Courtney Lawes ruled out as a result of knee problems suffered in Paris.

This is in addition to the fact that loose forwards such as Billy Vunipola, Sam Underhill and Tom Curry were already sidelined.

Jones gave Armand his England debut off the bench in Argentina last year, when several first-choice players were with the British and Irish Lions in New Zealand. But for all that Armand has been a respected performer for Premiership champions Exeter, Jones had not recalled him for England duty until this week.

"We took Don to Argentina. He's a good solid player, who keeps on playing well for Exeter," Jones said. "We've got a few injuries in that No 8 spot so we're relying on Simmonds and need another back-up in that area."

Armand, 29, has played most of club rugby this season at either openside or blindside flanker, but he had no qualms about moving to a central position in the three-man back-row if needed.

"Whatever role it is I'm needed for, I am happy to try and fulfil," Armand said. "I've had a fair bit of experience in all three positions. I think I've had two games at eight so far this season. My role is wherever it needs to be."

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Manchester United 2

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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.”

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.

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RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile

Started: 2016

Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel 

Based: Ramallah, Palestine

Sector: Technology, Security

# of staff: 13

Investment: $745,000

Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors