Stan Wawrinka: Forget Roland Garros, Novak Djokovic the man to beat at Wimbledon

French Open champion Stan Wawrinka expects Novak Djokovic to bounce back from his Roland Garros heartache by successfully defending the Wimbledon title.

Wawrinka handed Djokovic one of the most painful defeats of his career earlier this month when he denied the world No1 a career Grand Slam by defeating him in the final in Paris.

And, with Wimbledon getting underway later this month, Swiss world No4 Wawrinka was asked who he would back for the All England Club title other than himself.

And the 30-year-old made it clear he would put his money on defending champion Djokovic ahead of seven-time winner Roger Federer, 2013 champion Andy Murray and two-time winner Rafael Nadal.

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“Novak is No. 1. He’s been playing so well and especially this year,” Wawrinka told reporters at Queen’s Club following his second round defeat against Kevin Anderson on Wednesday.

“I’m sure after losing the French Open final he wants more, he wants to come back and win the next big one.

“So he won last year. We all know that when he’s playing his best tennis he’s really good.”

But Wawrinka refuses to rule out Federer and Murray.

“Even if Roger lost few matches this year, I’m sure he’s going to be ready for the grass,” said Wawrinka.

“Also, I think with him, with his confidence, if he can get through the first week or something, playing well, then he’s going to be tough to beat.

“And Andy because he loves grass, playing at home, already won Wimbledon. He’s playing really well this year.”

After winning two of the last six Grand Slam titles and reaching the last eight at Wimbledon for the first time last year, Wawrinka knows he cannot be written off either.

“I still think that I can play my best game on grass,” he said. “If I can play well at the beginning of Wimbledon, I can do a great job.

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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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