UAE down but not out, ‘hope Thailand can do us a favour’ at Asian Championship

Adam Telford, the UAE captain, says all is not lost in the bid for promotion from the third tier of Asian rugby, although he acknowledges their chances are now slim.

The national team lost out by a single point to Malaysia in what felt like a winner-takes-all play-off in the Asian Championship Division 2 on Wednesday.

As such, Telford’s side need one unlikely event to go their way in the final round of matches in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

Beating Chinese Taipei is the UAE’s part of the equation. Then they are reliant on Thailand, who they thrashed on the opening day, overcoming Malaysia.

If the form is a guide, that seems a faint hope, with Malaysia comfortably leading the Division 2 table and Thailand adrift at the bottom. However, Telford remains optimistic.

“We have to hope Thailand can do us a favour and it is a local derby so that can bring the sides closer together,” Telford said.

“They still have something to play for, so there is a chance, and we have to play well against Chinese Taipei.”

The loss to the host nation of this competition was a significant jolt for UAE rugby.

The national team had travelled east last week in high spirits, with a new set of players targeting three wins and elevation back up the standings, after two years of relegation.

Roelof Kotze, the performance manager of UAE rugby, believes his side are capable of playing at a higher level than the third tier of continental rugby.

“We have enough quality that we should not be in this division,” said Kotze, who is overseeing his second campaign in charge of the national XVs side.

“Looking at the other teams, we really have enough quality that we should not be here anymore.

“The guys know that had they done most of their basics well, we wouldn’t be here still. That hurts them.

“We have to prepare ourselves for Chinese Taipei. Statistically, if Thailand can surprise Malaysia, we only need to beat Chinese Taipei and we are still in.

“We have to make sure we don’t solely focus on what happened against Malaysia, because there is still a Test match to be played.”

pradley@thenational.ae

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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