ABU DHABI // Al Wahda took a giant step towards a second-place finish and a place in the 2015 Asian Champions League after a 2-0 win over Dubai at the Al Nahyan Stadium on Friday night.
The four-time league champions need only a draw against last-place Al Shaab in their final match on May 11 to finish runner-up behind Al Ahli as they hold a better head-to-head record against Al Shabab.
Shabab are on 43 points and a win for them against Baniyas, and a draw for Wahda, will leave both teams tied on 46.
Wahda scored on either side of half time through Mohammed Al Shehhi and Damian Diaz to extend their winning streak to five matches and move to second in the Arabian Gulf League on 45 points.
It could have been more if Sebastian Tagliabue’s close-range effort from a Diaz cross had not crashed against the post.
Yousuf Ahmed, the Dubai goalkeeper, also made an excellent save on a powerfully struck header by Al Shehhi off a long ball from Amer Omar.
Diaz split the Dubai defence with a neat through ball for Al Shehhi to score past a stranded Ahmed for a seventh-minute lead, a perfect start in their second-last game of the season.
Ali Al Hosani, the Wahda keeper, did well to preserve their lead until the break with an excellent save by smothering Jehad Al Hussein’s one-on-one effort in the goalmouth.
The closest the visitors came to scoring, which could have been a consolation goal, was when a low free kick by Mohammed Ali Hussain from 30 yards ricocheted off the far post four minutes from full-time.
Dubai ended the match with 10 men on the pitch when Mohammed Ismail received his marching orders from the referee Sultan Al Marzouqi for a second yellow card in added time.
"The next game for us will be like a final because our hopes of finishing second in the league will depend on it," said Jose Peseiro, the Wahda coach.
“All the good work we have done in the past two months will count for nothing if we can’t return with a good result in our final game. So there is plenty at stake for us when we play Shaab away.
“We didn’t play well in the first half despite scoring early tonight. We allowed Dubai to create one or two good scoring chances, but they couldn’t take advantage of those opportunities. In the second half we showed a lot of improvement. We scored and created four or five chances.”
The final round of matches will have six teams battling for a top-four finish. Aside from Wahda and Shabab, there are Al Jazira, Al Nasr, Al Ain and Sharjah, with three points separating third place from seventh.
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World Test Championship table
1 India 71 per cent
2 New Zealand 70 per cent
3 Australia 69.2 per cent
4 England 64.1 per cent
5 Pakistan 43.3 per cent
6 West Indies 33.3 per cent
7 South Africa 30 per cent
8 Sri Lanka 16.7 per cent
9 Bangladesh 0
Results
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Company%20Profile
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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.”
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
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The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
Representing%20UAE%20overseas
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COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
The specs: 2018 Opel Mokka X
Price, as tested: Dh84,000
Engine: 1.4L, four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: Six-speed auto
Power: 142hp at 4,900rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 1,850rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L / 100km
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
