WTA Doha
Venus Williams and Victoria Azarenka will headline in the Qatar Ladies Open semi-finals after both advanced in high-powered match-ups on Thursday.
The tournament seventh seed Williams beat out fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, while Azarenka dominated third seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 6-1.
After a comfortable and straight-forward first set victory, Williams recovered from her second-set bashing to break Radwanska in the fourth and sixth sets to seal the win, despite being broken back in the seventh.
The other Doha semi-final will feature a tight match between world No 14 Carla Suarez-Navarro and No 15 Lucie Safarova. Spaniard Suarez-Navarro shocked top seed Petra Kvitova despite going down in the first set 3-6, 6-0, 6-3. Safarova, meanwhile, manhandled German world No 10 Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 6-1.
ATP Acapulco
Kei Nishikori, the top seed at the Mexican Open, breezed into the tournament’s semi-finals on Thursday with a 6-4, 6-4 handling of world No 33 Alexandr Dolgopolov.
Nishikori has yet to drop a set in his three matches in Acapulco has he’s marched unimpeded to the semis. On Thursday he broke Dolgopolov in the opening game of the first set, before he was broken himself in the eighth.
He immediately responded by breaking Dolgopolov and finished off the set in the 10th.
He made it simpler in the second set, breaking Dolgopolov in the fifth game and cruising from there.
Nishikori, the Japanese world No 5, will now face fourth seed Kevin Anderson in the semi-finals.
The other semi-final will pit American qualifier Ryan Harrison against David Ferrer. Harrison upset third seed Grigor Dimitrov in the second round and sixth seeed Ivo Karlovic on Thursday in the quarter-finals, 4-6, 7-6 (7/0), 7-6 (7/4).
Spaniard Ferrer, coming off a win in his last tournament in Rio, held off a challenge from young Australian Bernard Tomic for a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 victory.
ATP Buenos Aires
Fabio Fognini crashd out of the Argentina Open on Thursday, losing in straight sets to world No 74 Carlos Berlocq.
Berlocq, an Argentinian and one of the local favourites at the ATP tournament, finished off world No 22 Fognini, the fourth seed in Buenos Aires, 6-3, 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals.
Second-seeded Tommy Robredo had little trouble moving on, however, beating world No 186 Renzo Olivo 6-1, 6-2. He will face Nicolas Almagro in the quarters, who dismissed Albert Ramos on Thursday.
Thursday’s other quarter-final entry went to Blaz Rola, who had little trouble against Argentine Facundo Bagnis in a straight sets win.
In the last eight Rola and Berlocq will face off, as well as Wednesday winners top seed Rafael Nadal and Federico Delbonis and third-seeded Pablo Cuevas and Juan Monaco.
WTA Acapulco
Maria Sharapova continued along as the overwhleming favourite in the Mexican Open on Thursday, fighting off a challenge from Magdalena Rybarikova for a three-set 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 victory to reach the semi-finals.
World No 2 Sharapova’s next challenger in Acapulco will be highly-rated French 21-year-old Caroline Garcia, the world No 30 who advanced when quarter-final opponent Mirjana Lucic-Baroni retired. Garcia won the first set and was up 2-1 in the second set when the match halted.
The other semi-final will feature Timea Bacsinszky who comfortably topped Johanna Larsson 6-3, 6-3 to move on, and No 158 Sesil Karantantcheva, who defeated world No 51 Monica Puig in a 2-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-4 victory.
The 25-year-old Bulgarian Karantantcheva who was a 2005 French Open quarter-finalist will be looking to reach the first WTA final of her career against Bacsinszky. She was once ranked as high as No 35 in the world but, the same year as her French Open run, failed doping tests twice and was banned from tennis for two years, returning in 2008.
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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.”
RESULT
Australia 3 (0) Honduras 1 (0)
Australia: Jedinak (53', 72' pen, 85' pen)
Honduras: Elis (90+4)
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 1 (Gundogan 56')
Shakhtar Donetsk 1 (Solomon 69')
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Name: Direct Debit System
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tottenham v Ajax, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Ajax v Tottenham, Wednesday, May 8, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
Essentials
The flights: You can fly from the UAE to Iceland with one stop in Europe with a variety of airlines. Return flights with Emirates from Dubai to Stockholm, then Icelandair to Reykjavik, cost from Dh4,153 return. The whole trip takes 11 hours. British Airways flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Reykjavik, via London, with return flights taking 12 hours and costing from Dh2,490 return, including taxes.
The activities: A half-day Silfra snorkelling trip costs 14,990 Icelandic kronur (Dh544) with Dive.is. Inside the Volcano also takes half a day and costs 42,000 kronur (Dh1,524). The Jokulsarlon small-boat cruise lasts about an hour and costs 9,800 kronur (Dh356). Into the Glacier costs 19,500 kronur (Dh708). It lasts three to four hours.
The tours: It’s often better to book a tailor-made trip through a specialist operator. UK-based Discover the World offers seven nights, self-driving, across the island from £892 (Dh4,505) per person. This includes three nights’ accommodation at Hotel Husafell near Into the Glacier, two nights at Hotel Ranga and two nights at the Icelandair Hotel Klaustur. It includes car rental, plus an iPad with itinerary and tourist information pre-loaded onto it, while activities can be booked as optional extras. More information inspiredbyiceland.com
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