Kei Nishikori reached his first grand slam final, at the US Open, in 2014. Patrick Kovarik / AFP
Kei Nishikori reached his first grand slam final, at the US Open, in 2014. Patrick Kovarik / AFP
Kei Nishikori reached his first grand slam final, at the US Open, in 2014. Patrick Kovarik / AFP
Kei Nishikori reached his first grand slam final, at the US Open, in 2014. Patrick Kovarik / AFP

Tennis

‘I feel more attention’ says excited Kei Nishikori, out to continue rise in 2015

Kei Nishikori will begin his first preparatory run for the Australian Open in a tournament on Tuesday at the Brisbane International, as he sees his star in tennis rising.

Reuters

January 06, 2015

  • English
  • Arabic

For Kei Nishikori, one of the rising stars of men’s tennis, the start of the new year could not come quick enough.

The 25-year-old Japanese finished 2014 in a blaze of glory, reaching the final of the US Open, the semi-finals of the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London and climbing to a career best ranking of fifth.

His stellar performances last year have boosted his confidence and given him the spur to go on to bigger and better things in 2015.

“I have more confidence than before,” he told reporters at the Brisbane International on Tuesday.

“I won two tournaments after the US Open and played great in London too. So, I had a great season last year and I had a great preparation in Florida this off-season.”

Nishikori will launch his new season in Brisbane on Wednesday against American Steve Johnson. As the second seed, Nishikori was given a first round bye and is itching to get back on court.

“I think I am doing really well,” he said. “I think these first couple of tournaments of the year are very important for me to gain a little more confidence.

“This is really exciting moment for me.”

Nishikori’s stocks have risen enormously since his breakthrough in New York. He has a huge following in his homeland Japan and a large Japanese media contingent is following his every move in Australia.

Before hitting the practice courts on Tuesday, he visited the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and posed for photos with the Australian marsupials.

“They were so cute. I get really relaxed (but the) nail was really sharp so it was hurting, otherwise it was really fun,” he told reporters.

“Actually, outside is really changing around me. It’s really different. A lot of media stuff, especially in Japan. I feel more attention.”

After Brisbane, he plans to play in an exhibition event in Kooyong before the Australian Open, a tournament where he has performed consistently in recent years, reaching the quarter-finals in 2012 and the fourth round in 2013 and 2014.

While the Australian Open is his immediate goal, Nishikori said he has sights on making an impact at all the grand slams this year.

“Maybe to get semis or final if I can. Maybe to win a Masters, that’s next goal for me,” he said.

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PROFILE OF HALAN

Started: November 2017

Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport and logistics

Size: 150 employees

Investment: approximately $8 million

Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar

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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.”