World No 7 Dominic Thiem set up an Indian Wells Masters semi-final showdown with Milos Raonic without hitting a ball Thursday as injured Gael Monfils withdrew.
France's Monfils, ranked No 19 in the world, pulled out shortly before his scheduled quarter-final against Thiem with left Achilles tendon trouble.
Oft-injured Monfils said he felt discomfort in his ankle for a couple of days and had been receiving treatment, but the pain was worse after his fourth-round win over Philipp Kohlschreiber on Wednesday night.
"I tried a little jog this morning, and I couldn't really actually push on it," he said. "Then we taped it. Then I hit a little bit tonight, and I felt that I cannot be 100 per cent. I have this pain, and it wasn't the right choice to play."
He said an ultrasound exam confirmed severe inflammation, and he wasn't yet sure if it would prevent him from playing the upcoming Miami Masters.
"Very disappointing, to be honest," said Monfils, who was enjoying a 15-3 start to the season. "Because I was playing great tennis, feeling strong."
Thiem is through to the semi-finals at Indian Wells for the first time, having reached the quarters once before in 2017.
"I was really surprised," Thiem said, who was waiting to be taken to the court when he realized there was a problem.
"I'm really sorry for him. Obviously we are both playing well here. He's having a great season. I'm picking up my form again. So I think it would have been very tough but also a very fun match for us, for the crowd. So it's a pity," said Thiem who has lost both of his prior matches against Raonic.
Raonic ends Kecmanovic's dream run
Raonic ended the dream run of lucky loser Miomir Kecmanovic, beating the 19-year-old Serbian 6-3, 6-4.
Raonic, ranked 14th in the world, fired 13 aces and broke Kecmanovic once in each set to keep his bid to better his 2016 runner-up finish on track.
Kecmanovic, who failed to make it through qualifying but gained entry to the main draw when fifth-seeded Kevin Anderson withdrew, was the first lucky loser to reach the quarter-finals at Indian Wells since the tournament served as the inaugural ATP Masters 1000 in 1990.
Raonic's serve wasn't at it's booming best: he put only 55 per cent of his first serves in play.
"I think that can get better," Raonic said. "But there's other things I'm doing well, for sure. As soon as I had a chance on the first forehand, I was able to find my way to be the one dictating the point. And I put a lot of returns in and gave myself a chance there."
While the 130th-ranked Kecmanovic fell short in his bid to become just the third lucky loser to reach the semi-finals of a Masters 1000 event, he can regroup for the upcoming Miami Masters - where he has been given a wild card into the main draw.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will be vying to set up a blockbuster semi-final when the play in the other two quarter-finals on Friday.
Federer, the 20-time Grand Slam champion who claimed his 100th career title at Dubai last month, takes on 67th ranked Hubert Hurkacz of Poland while Nadal faces 12th-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov.
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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