Approaching the regular season’s halfway mark in the NFL, the NFC’s crowded play-off picture should become clearer in Week 8, while in the AFC the league-best New England Patriots look for revenge. Start times are UAE time.
Seattle Seahawks (4-1-1) at New Orleans Saints (2-4), Sunday, 9pm
Seattle are good but boring. New Orleans are bad but exciting. The Saints need to win pretty much every game to get back into the race, but they can score on anyone and might be a tough matchup for the Seahawks in the Superdome.
New England Patriots (6-1) at Buffalo Bills (4-3), Sunday, 9pm
The lone team to beat New England this season are Buffalo, but that was not against Tom Brady. Look for Bill Belichick and Brady to assert their superiority against a Bills team that might be lacking several key players due to injury, including running back LeSean McCoy.
Kansas City Chiefs (4-2) at Indianapolis Colts (3-4), Sunday, 9pm
Two third-place AFC teams with completely different fortunes: the steady Chiefs must keep pace in the tough West while the middling Colts are only a game behind Houston Texans in the woeful South.
Green Bay Packers (4-2) at Atlanta Falcons (4-3), Monday, 12.25am
In what should be the most entertaining game of the week, the Falcons look to halt a two-game losing streak against Aaron Rodgers, who lifetime against Atlanta has a 116.0 Quarterback Rating. Green Bay is banged up at cornerback, though, so look for Atlanta to get the ball early and often to league-leading receiver Julio Jones.
Philadelphia Eagles (4-2) at Dallas Cowboys (5-1), Monday, 4.30am
Two teams that have vastly outperformed expectations, but cannot afford to slow down due to a very competitive NFC East race in which every team has a winning record. Carson Wentz meets Dak Prescott in a matchup of rookie quarterbacks who have lifted the fortunes of their respective franchises in short order.
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GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
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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.”
War on waste
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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Tomorrow 2021
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
