Roger Federer refuses to fade away. Like the bunny in an advertisement of a battery company, he keeps on going.
After a disappointing 2013, the Swiss maestro’s annus horribilis, who would have thought he would be celebrating the addition of the only major trophy missing from his CV, the Davis Cup, after his 33rd birthday?
On Sunday, he added another milestone to his glittering resume – 1,000 wins on the ATP Tour. Only two other men have managed this feat in the Open era, Jimmy Connors (1,253) and Ivan Lendl (1,071).
Federer’s first Tour win came at Toulouse in 1998, when he beat Guillaume Raoux 6-2, 6-2. Since then he has won a record 17 grand slam singles crowns and US$88.7 million (Dh326m) in prize money; he has appeared in a record 60 consecutive grand slams and has held the world No1 ranking for 302 weeks.
To put those figures in context, the most dominant player of this generation on the women’s side, Serena Williams, is two months younger than Federer but played her first Tour match in 1995. She is 684-120 in career singles matches, while the Swiss is 1,000-227.
Federer’s consistency, according to Australian legend Ken Rosewall, comes from his “desire to play, because he loves to compete”. The Swiss agrees.
“I tried to chase perfection, I guess, to a degree at some point,” he said in a recent interview with the Times of India. “I guess I’m still trying that. You never stop learning, and I think that’s a very interesting and important aspect of the game.
“That’s why I’m still out here today, playing on the Tour and doing exhibition matches because I genuinely and truly love tennis.”
This chase for “perfection” and love of the sport saw Federer reinvent himself in 2014 with a bigger racquet and former great Stefan Edberg as coach.
Last season, he won five titles from 11 finals, took home more than $10m in prize money and won more matches (73) than any other player on Tour.
He posted 17 wins over top-10 players last year and has started the new season in the same vein, with two of his Brisbane opponents being touted as possible grand-slam champions of the future – No 11 Grigor Dimitrov and No 8 Milos Raonic.
Federer is in the best form of any of the Big Four .
“I do believe I have a shot in Melbourne,’’ Federer said.
“It’s just talk. I have to do the running, the clutch plays when it matters.”
At the Australian Open, Federer has 11 consecutive semi-final-or-better finishes since 2004. An 18th grand slam this time seems highly likely.
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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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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
