GREATER NOIDA, INDIA // One is the poster boy of Formula One, the other is a balding boffin who carries around a 2B pencil. Put them both together and the 2012 Formula One World Championship appears to be on its way to being wrapped up.
Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing's 25 year old German, secured pole position for today's Indian Grand Prix, but title rival Fernando Alonso emerged from his car at Buddh International Circuit asserting the fight is now as much between Ferrari and Adrian Newey as it is between a pair of two-time world champions.
"At the moment we are not fighting against Sebastian only," the Spaniard, who finished fifth-fastest in qualifying, said.
"We are also fighting against Newey, let's say, because [the team] has finished first or second in the last three races."
Newey is undoubtedly the genius behind Red Bull's recent dominance, which sees them almost certain to claim a third successive constructors' championship in Abu Dhabi next weekend.
The Englishman, armed with a pencil and a first-class degree in aeronautics, has been designing championship-winning cars since 1992.
After successful spells with Williams and McLaren, where he won championships with both teams, he became chief technical officer at Red Bull and has added seventh and eighth constructors' titles to his resume.
With Vettel and Mark Webber locking out the front row here yesterday for the third consecutive race, title number nine has never looked more likely.
"He always comes up with ideas," Webber said. "Whenever Adrian is around, it just brings everyone up; all the engineering guys, mechanics.
"He is such a beacon of our team; such a beacon for us in terms of sticking to our guns when it gets a bit smelly. And when it's going well, you never notice its going well with him.
"We finished first and second in Korea and the debrief was no different. That is just such a quality of Adrian and that is why it is great to have him."
In Korea, it was Newey who accompanied the Red Bull drivers to the podium and, true to form, the 53 year old proved himself ahead of the game once again, brandishing a pair of mechanics goggles shortly before getting soaked on the podium by his jubilant drivers.
"Who said geniuses have no common sense, eh?" remarked Webber, with a grin.
While Vettel has now secured 35 pole positions in his short career, few have appeared as inevitable as yesterday's did on this dusty circuit near to Delhi.
The two-time world champion, winner at India's inaugural contest last season, led every free practice session and would have been quickest in all three parts of qualifying had Pastor Maldonado not beaten his fastest time in qualifying part one on the soft Pirelli tyres - Vettel had set his time on the harder compound.
"All in all, it has been a great weekend so far and no problems with the car," Vettel, who is hunting a fourth successive race victory, said. "But we have to keep pushing. We have four races to go - important races - but the best chance of doing well is to focus on every single step.
"This was qualifying and we got a very good result. Now we look forward to the race."
Following his victories in Japan and Korea, Vettel has been pictured climbing out of his car in parc ferme and stroking Newey's creation with adoration.
His action was likened by Indian media to a jockey caressing his prize horse, but the quick-witted German noted a difference.
"With the car sometimes you might lose oil or fuel, but I think the smell is nicer than what a horse drops," he said, laughing.
"There is obviously a special relationship because when you're out on track, it's between you and the car, but also the car is what connects you to your crew. I'm working with the car on the track and the crew is working with the car in the garage. We all share a passion and try to achieve a common goal."
The common goal will edge closer this afternoon if Vettel can convert pole into a 26th career win and Alonso, who trails by six points in the standings, knows it as well as anyone.
"If they can start well, go away and have an easy race, that's the worst news for us," the Ferrari driver said.
Newey will have his podium goggles at the ready.
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Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
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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.”
From Zero
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