Stuttering victory gives City reason to be optimistic



MANCHESTER // The simple facts are that Manchester City have won seven of their nine games under Roberto Mancini and are one point outside the top four with two games in hand on most of their immediate rivals. The context is that, four days after the shattering blow Manchester United inflicted in injury time at Old Trafford, Mancini's men won the sort of match where previous City sides have proved sadly accident prone.

Yet, the defeat at Everton aside, this was City's least convincing performance under the Italian. Goals from Emmanuel Adebayor and Vincent Kompany secured victory, but not before Portsmouth had struck the woodwork or enjoyed the better of the majority of the first half. There were moments when Avram Grant stood impassively on the touchline, hands in pockets while a more agitated Mancini practically bounced up and down in nervous frustration.

After two goals in six minutes before the interval, the City manager was his usual composed self again, his Portsmouth counterpart looking resigned to his fate. The consequence was that Pompey's pessimism is accompanied by City's optimism. "We will fight until the end of the season," Mancini said. "There are three or four other teams who can arrive in the top four. We are in a good position now." With Stephen Ireland passing the ball intelligently and Gareth Barry and Nigel de Jong providing a solid base to the midfield, there was a dependability to his side, though less invention than has been the case of late. Until a late cameo, Craig Bellamy was rested and City lacked the spark the Welshman often provides.

They were disrupted, too, by injuries to Pablo Zabaleta and Kompany, even if their difficulties were alleviated by Kolo Toure's return from international duty. However, the subdued nature of the occasion may have been inevitable given the crushing nature of Wednesday's derby defeat. "Sometimes it wasn't a very good game," admitted Mancini. "Against Manchester United we played strongly and very, very well. Today we were so tired, we started the game slowly, we moved the ball slowly."

That could have cost them. Portsmouth almost led. John Utaka backheeled brilliantly into the path of the raiding right-back, Anthony Vanden Borre. His shot deflected off Kompany and on to the bar. Danny Webber could not tap in the rebound, Ireland getting his body between the Portsmouth forward and the ball. A chance at one end was followed by a goal at the other. "It was borderline offside," said Portsmouth's first-team coach Paul Groves. It was superbly taken, though. Adebayor deftly plucked Ireland's chipped pass out of the air before rifling his half-volley beyond David James.

Another followed soon afterwards. When Martin Petrov whipped a corner in, Kompany climbed above Tal Ben-Haim, to head in City's second goal. Thereafter, Carlos Tevez was inches away from extending his glorious run in front of goal. After typically incisive play from Bellamy, the Argentine turned sharply to strike a shot that clipped a post. Portsmouth had further opportunities, the best after Shay Given parried a shot from Angelos Basinas and Webber lost his footing as he tried to convert the rebound.

Meanwhile, the City players' thoughts were with one of their injured teammates. Under their shirts, several wore T-shirts reading "Team Bridge". The left-back, whose former partner had an affair with John Terry, appears the wronged party in the latest scandal in English football. "Wayne is a fantastic man," said Mancini. "The players are very, very close to him." sports@thenational.ae

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Cricket World Cup League Two

Oman, UAE, Namibia

Al Amerat, Muscat

 

Results

Oman beat UAE by five wickets

UAE beat Namibia by eight runs

 

Fixtures

Wednesday January 8 –Oman v Namibia

Thursday January 9 – Oman v UAE

Saturday January 11 – UAE v Namibia

Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia

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.”

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

ETFs explained

Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.

ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.

There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.

Other workplace saving schemes
  • The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
  • Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
  • National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
  • In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
  • Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
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Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
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How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now

Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.

The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.

1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):

a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33

b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.

2. For those who have worked more than five years

c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.

Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.

German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia