Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Paris Saint-Germain and Paris Saint-Germain head coach Laurent Blanc wait on the pitch after winning the Ligue 1 title. Yoan Valat / EPA / May 7, 2014
Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Paris Saint-Germain and Paris Saint-Germain head coach Laurent Blanc wait on the pitch after winning the Ligue 1 title. Yoan Valat / EPA / May 7, 2014

Sport

‘This team deserves to be in the record books’ says Blanc as PSG clinch Ligue 1 crown

Paris Saint-Germain fell to Rennes 2-1 on Wednesday, but Monaco's earlier 1-1 draw with Guingamp had already left them clear as Ligue 1 title-winners.

Agence France Presse

May 08, 2014

Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc insisted his team deserve to be lavished with praise for their performance in retaining the Ligue 1 title despite stumbling towards the finish line in recent weeks.

PSG were crowned champions on Wednesday with three games to spare after nearest challengers Monaco only managed a 1-1 draw with Guingamp, but they were then beaten 2-1 at home by Rennes, a result that left the capital club with just one win from their last four matches.

Blanc’s side have struggled since their elimination from the Champions League at the quarter-final stage to Chelsea last month, but the coach refused to criticise his players.

“It was disappointing to lose the game but I hope we can get a few more points between now and the end of the season to beat the Ligue 1 points record,” said Blanc, whose side took the lead against Rennes through an early Ezequiel Lavezzi goal only to find themselves behind before half-time.

“I think this team deserves to be in the record books, but to do that we will need to get points against Lille and Montpellier (in their last two matches).”

PSG are only one point away from equalling Lyon’s all-time Ligue 1 record tally of 84, set in 2006, while they have also won the season-opening Trophée des Champions and the Coupe de la Ligue.

And Blanc, who did not appear before the press at the Parc des Princes until well after midnight after celebrating the title win with his squad, is frustrated that so much emphasis has been placed on their European disappointment.

“Everyone keeps thinking about our elimination from Europe,” he said. “It is a competition we want to win in the future and if everyone tries to improve we can make progress in the Champions League.

“I get the impression that our season is only measured on what we have done in Europe. It is a bit simplistic. Other teams were knocked out before us, like Manchester City for example.

“I feel that the national title is maybe a little underestimated.”

For Blanc it is a second Ligue 1 crown as a coach after he led Bordeaux to glory in 2009, and he says that this one means just as much, despite his current side’s huge resources.

“I appreciate this one a lot because at the start of the season everyone thought you could name anybody as coach and PSG would win the title, but we needed to convince the players to follow our philosophy. The players are important but so are the backroom staff,” he said.

“I am very happy and very proud,” said Qatari club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi to Canal Plus television. “We have had a really excellent season. I think it’s been better than last year, with the results we’ve had and also the quality of football.”

Follow us on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE

A State of Passion

Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi

Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah

Rating: 4/5

How to help

Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200

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.”

Kareem Shaheen on Canada