Angelique Kerber helped Dominika Cibulkova reach the semi-finals of the WTA Finals on Thursday.
Kerber, who had already advanced from the Red Group, beat Madison Keys 6-3, 6-3 to finish 3-0 in the round robin and eliminate her American opponent. Cibulkova beat Simona Halep 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) earlier in the day, giving her a 1-2 record.
The top-ranked Kerber will be playing in the semi-finals of the season-ending tournament for the first time after failing to advance in three previous attempts. In 2016, the German won the Australian Open and US Open, and reached the final at Wimbledon.
In the match with Keys, half of the 18 games resulted in service breaks. Kerber broke Keys’ serve on six of seven offerings, while Keys took advantage of three of four break points.
Keys and Halep, who had her left knee taped for the match against Cibulkova, also finished the group with 1-2 records. Cibulkova had needed to Kerber to beat Keys in straight sets, otherwise the American would have instead gone through.
Svetlana Kuznetsova, who is 2-0 in the White Group, has already qualified for the semi-finals. The second semi-final spot from that group will be decided Friday when defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska plays Karolina Pliskova.
Garbine Muguruza has already been eliminated from contention.
Cibulkova, beaten in her first two Red Group matches, was unsure whether she would progress or not but gave herself a chance.
“This win is really, really big for me,” Cibulkova said. “I feel relieved. I’m really happy about my win, about the way I played and the way I handled the situation and the pressure.
“It seems like I’m playing my best tennis under the biggest pressure.”
Halep, a runner-up at Singapore’s Indoor Stadium two years ago, made a great start to the tournament with a comfortable win against Keys only to lose her last two matches in straight sets.
She only needed to win one set against Cibulkova to leapfrog the Slovakian in the group standings but bowed out after dropping the first after just 29 minutes, hitting a forehand return over the baseline, then the second in a tiebreak with another return error.
“This tournament was a bonus for me,” said Halep, who made a slow start to the year but won three tour events to climb to fourth in the world rankings.
“I gave it everything I had. I didn’t have enough to qualify in the semis, but it was a good experience again, my third year in a row, so it’s a good thing. I’m not sad that I lost. Of course it’s tough, but nothing changes.”
*Agencies
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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.”
Five films to watch
Castle in the Sky (1986)
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Only Yesterday (1991)
Pom Poki (1994)
The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013)
How Beautiful this world is!
