Inter Milan
French international Geoffrey Kondogbia has completed his move from AS Monaco to Inter Milan, signing a five-year deal with the Serie A club after snubbing city rivals AC Milan at the 11th hour.
Kondogbia completed his medical with Inter on Monday morning, after which a club official told AFP: “He will be unveiled to fans after 5pm (7.15pm UAE) this evening in Milan.”
Inter have yet to publish an official statement although the club’s Twitter feed showed a picture of Kondogbia in a club shirt with a short message confirming his signature: “Contracts signed with Monaco for the transfer of Geoffrey Kondogbia.”
The 22-year-old Frenchman, who spent two seasons at Monaco after joing the Ligue 1 club from Sevilla, is expected to earn EU€4 million (Dh16.7m) a season plus bonuses after making a last-gasp decision to snub AC Milan.
Read more: The National's Transfer Talk page
Monaco are expected to receive a fee believed to be in the region of €35m.
Milan CEO Adriano Galliani said Sunday he believed he had tied up Kondogbia’s move to the seven-time European champions.
However Inter flew in with a late, improved offer which appeared to sway the player and his representatives.
The marauding midfielder, who has been compared to retired French international Patrick Vieira, had also been linked with a move to Manchester City, Real Madrid and Juventus after showcasing his talents last season when Monaco reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Juventus
Croatia forward Mario Mandzukic, meanwhile, is on the point of signing for Juventus after one season with Atletico Madrid, the Serie A champions said on Monday.
“Mario Mandzukic is this morning undergoing a routine medical ahead of his proposed transfer to Juventus from Atletico Madrid,” Juventus said in a statement.
Former Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich forward Mandzukic scored 20 goals in 43 matches in all competitions for Diego Simeone’s side last season as Atletico finished third in the defence of the title they won in 2014.
Juventus, who won a Serie A and Coppa Italia (Italian Cup) double this season and reached the Champions League final, have already signed Germany midfielder Sami Khedira from Real Madrid to reinforce the midfield.
Khedira’s move could facilitate the exit of France midfielder Paul Pogba, who is reportedly a target for clubs including Real, European champions Barcelona and several English teams as well as Paris Saint-Germain.
It also remains uncertain whether 36-year-old playmaker Andrea Pirlo will stay for another season.
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Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Kamindu Mendis bio
Full name: Pasqual Handi Kamindu Dilanka Mendis
Born: September 30, 1998
Age: 20 years and 26 days
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Major teams Sri Lanka's Under 19 team
Batting style: Left-hander
Bowling style: Right-arm off-spin and slow left-arm orthodox (that's right!)
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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.”
