Sebastian Tagliabue: Newly-formed Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club will ‘challenge for every title’

ABU DHABI // Al Wahda striker Sebastian Tagliabue has said the merger of Al Shabab, Al Ahli and the promoted Dubai can create one of the strongest teams in UAE football next season.

On Tuesday, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, ordered the merger of the three clubs, which will now be known as Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club, with assets and properties of the trio transferred to the single entity with immediate effect.

Speaking ahead of the President’s Cup final between Wahda and Al Nasr on Friday, Tagliabue said the merger could form a club strong enough to compete on the continent as well as domestically.

“I don’t know the real situation why they do this, but I have no doubt about one thing, they will be much stronger,” the Argentine said.

“If the decision is from the Ruler of Dubai, it certainly must be to establish a team that can challenge for every title, including the Asian Champions League.”

As well as the merger of the three Dubai-based clubs, it was also announced that two clubs in Sharjah — Al Shaab and Sharjah — were set to merge. Subsequently, the UAE Football Association announced the 2017/18 Arabian Gulf League season will be reduced from 14 teams to 12.

Wahda manager Javier Aguirre has said the logistics of trying to create one team from multiple clubs could prove difficult.

“It is going to be tough because now you have around 70 or 80 professional players and you have to build one team from this,” he said.

“It makes it very difficult for everybody, the players, technical staff and administrators, but if it is to improve the league and the overall level of the club, then I welcome it.”

Aguirre’s Wahda side face Nasr in the President’s Cup final at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi on Friday. Kick-off is scheduled for 6.30pm UAE time.

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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.”