With the 2017 Pakistan Super League final taking place in Lahore, Pakistan on Sunday, March 5, Paul Radley looks back on his best XI for the entire tournament.
1. Kamran Akmal (Peshawar Zalmi)
Started the tournament with a blistering 88, finished the UAE matches with the only century of the tournament, and issued a come-and-get-me plea to Pakistan’s selectors. A fine month’s work.
2. Ahmed Shehzad (Quetta Gladiators)
Successive half-centuries as the group reached its business stage – and a heroic fall out with Kevin Pietersen over a near run out when they batted together.
3. Kevin Pietersen (Quetta Gladiators, foreign)
The definition of all or nothing, he made three runs in five deliveries in four innings early in the tournament. The rest of the time he seemed nigh on unstoppable.
4. Rilee Rossouw (Quetta Gladiators, foreign)
The South African’s form might have waned just as the stakes were getting towards their height, but his contribution at the start of the competition laid the platform for Quetta.
5. Kieron Pollard (Karachi Kings, foreign)
For his sublime fielding, his massive hitting, his cool finishing, the two sixes to win the seminal match against Lahore Qalandars, and those press ups to celebrate.
6. Shadab Khan (Islamabad United, emerging player)
Might the young leg-spinner be Pakistan’s next big star? Dean Jones, his coach, thinks so. “He is ready to play for Pakistan now,” Jones said of the 18-year-old bowler.
7. Sunil Narine (Lahore Qalandars, foreign)
The Trinidadian spinner’s economy rate of 6.46 was some way short of his career standard, but impressive nonetheless. His batting caught the eye, too, with a strike rate of 181.25.
8. Wahab Riaz (Peshawar Zalmi)
A fair claim to be considered the player of the tournament. Peshawar’s leading wicket-taker noticeably upped the ante the more the pressure rose in the knockout phase.
9. Hasan Ali (Peshawar Zalmi, emerging player)
A class act, and still only 23. Three wickets in the demolition when Lahore Qalandars were all out for 59 was most eye-catching, but 0-21 in the play-off against Karachi was also valuable.
10. Rumman Raees (Islamabad United)
Of the seven matches he played for the outgoing champions, the left-arm pace-bowler went wicketless just once. He did not deserve to be on the losing side in the eliminator against Karachi.
11. Sohail Khan (Karachi Kings)
His haul of 16 wickets in the tournament before the final was three better than the next best, Wahab Riaz. Nine of those wickets came in matches against the eventual finalists, Peshawar and Quetta.
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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.”
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