NEW YORK // Marin Cilic made a winning start to his US Open challenge Monday as the Croatian seeks to recapture his best form.
Sharapova has to work hard in US Open first round
Russian shows her experience in three set matches to beat Briton Heather Watson 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.
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The 22 year old looked ready to make the breakthrough to the top echelons of tennis in 2009 when he thrashed Andy Murray on his way to the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows.
Despite reaching the semi-finals at the Australian Open last year he has been unable to build on those results and has slipped to No 26 in the world from a high of No 9 in February 2010.
But he showed encouraging form in disposing of Ryan Harrison, the American, coming through in straight sets 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 despite a third set wobble.
Harrison had come more into the match as the game progressed, and served for the third set before Cilic broke back to take it to a tie-break.
He was 4-2 down in that, before recovering to win it 8-6 to book his place in the second round.
In other action, Tomas Berdych avoided lightning striking twice as he won his first round match.
Twelve months ago, Berdych had been in the form of his life after reaching the Wimbledon final, but then was stunned in New York in the first round by Michael Llodra.
There was no mistake from the No 9 seed this time around as the Czech Republic player defeated Romain Jouan, the Frenchman, 6-2, 7-6, 6-1.
Janko Tipsarevic was the first men's player through to the last 64 in New York. The big-serving Serbian, who is the No 20 seed, proved too good for Augustin Genese, the Frenchman, as he cantered to a 6-2, 7-5, 6-0 success.
Also through was Marcel Granollers, the No 31 seed. The Spaniard defeated Xavier Malisse of Belgium, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
Japan's Kei Nishikori suffered injury heartbreak for the second year in succession at the US Open when he retired from his first round clash against Italy's Flavio Cipolla.
The 21-year-old Nishikori called it quits after dropping the first two sets 6-4, 6-2.
Twelve months ago, Nishikori, now ranked at a career-high 46 in the world, was forced to retire from his third round tie against Spain's Albert Montanes with a groin injury.
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.”
Company Profile
Company name: Cargoz
Date started: January 2022
Founders: Premlal Pullisserry and Lijo Antony
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 30
Investment stage: Seed
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WHAT IS THE LICENSING PROCESS FOR VARA?
Vara will cater to three categories of companies in Dubai (except the DIFC):
Category A: Minimum viable product (MVP) applicants that are currently in the process of securing an MVP licence: This is a three-stage process starting with [1] a provisional permit, graduating to [2] preparatory licence and concluding with [3] operational licence. Applicants that are already in the MVP process will be advised by Vara to either continue within the MVP framework or be transitioned to the full market product licensing process.
Category B: Existing legacy virtual asset service providers prior to February 7, 2023, which are required to come under Vara supervision. All operating service proviers in Dubai (excluding the DIFC) fall under Vara’s supervision.
Category C: New applicants seeking a Vara licence or existing applicants adding new activities. All applicants that do not fall under Category A or B can begin the application process through their current or prospective commercial licensor — the DET or Free Zone Authority — or directly through Vara in the instance that they have yet to determine the commercial operating zone in Dubai.
Company Profile
Name: HyveGeo
Started: 2023
Founders: Abdulaziz bin Redha, Dr Samsurin Welch, Eva Morales and Dr Harjit Singh
Based: Cambridge and Dubai
Number of employees: 8
Industry: Sustainability & Environment
Funding: $200,000 plus undisclosed grant
Investors: Venture capital and government
