In the NBA, as in Major League Baseball, the All-Star Game typically is considered the halfway point of the season. But by Saturday night more than half the league had played Game 41 of an 82-game season, which makes this a good moment for an assessment of clubs at the extremes of the standings.
The Winners
Golden State Warriors The average NBA fan is still trying to wrap their mind around the fact that the Warriors have the best record in basketball.
Yes, the Warriors, who have won two play-off series in the previous 23 seasons.
The Warriors were 32-6 through Saturday, putting them on pace for a 69-win season, which is startling. Only three teams in NBA history have won 69 games in a season, the Chicago Bulls in 1996/97 and 1997/98 – Michael Jordan played for both of those – and the Los Angeles Lakers in 1971/72, for whom Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain played.
Stephen Curry, the successor to Jordan? He is a leading candidate for MVP, as the leader of the league’s best team. The frail-looking guard leads the team in points (23.8 per game), assists (8.0) and steals, and is shooting a tick below 50 per cent, which is outstanding for a man who takes about eight three-pointers per game.
But this is a strong all-around team. Five other Warriors score at least 10 points per game, and they lead the league in assists, indicating a strong team ethic.
Atlanta Hawks This is perhaps a bigger shock. Another team with a long history of not doing much of anything lead the Eastern Conference with a 33-8 record, which projects to 66-16, or nine victories more than any Hawks team have managed in a half-century.
This is another collective effort, as leading the league in scoring defence and ranking second in assists would suggest. What makes the Hawks even more interesting is that they have no star such as Curry.
Jeff Teague is not a household name, but he leads them in scoring at a modest 17.6 points per game. They go 11 deep with competent players, any of whom can win them a game. Al Horford and three-point specialist Kyle Korver rank high on the list. Like the Warriors, however, they still are not considered first-tier championship contenders. Another 41 games like these could change some minds.
The Losers
Minnesota Timberwolves They prop up the Western Conference at 7-32, but their season is shaping up as vaguely promising. Andrew Wiggins, the rookie No 1 draft pick obtained in the Kevin Love trade, suddenly is showing suggestions that he could be the next LeBron James are silly, rather than outlandish.
About 30 games into the season, Wiggins shifted from a “lost 19-year-old kid” to “scoring machine”. In his past 13 games, he has averaged 21.4 points per game and is shooting an excellent 50 per cent from the field and 46 per cent behind the arc, while making 78 per cent of his free throws and suggesting he is unguardable.
There is not much else on the Wolves, but the best young player in the game is a good place to start.
New York Knicks The Knicks would love to have Minnesota's problems. Their best player, Carmelo Anthony, is 30 and considering season-ending knee surgery. They have few assets and fewer useful players, and they are angling for the top draft pick, which is always a matter of luck. But, at least, they have grasped they are horrible, which is the first step to recovery.
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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.”
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
