Sport

Underdogs determined to show plenty of bite

The deeply religious Fiji squad pray for a miracle at the Sydney Football Stadium ahead of their biggest match against Australia.

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SYDNEY // The day before the biggest game in the country's short rugby league history, Fiji blessed the Sydney Football Stadium and then started praying for a miracle as they prepare to face Australia in the World Cup semi-final. The deeply religious Bati squad gathered in the middle of the SFS to pray together before a light training session ahead of today's showdown with the star-studded Kangaroos.

"We just blessed the ground today and come tomorrow we've got nothing to lose," coach Joe Dakuitoga declared. "If you look back to the start of this competition everybody wrote us off. "We came as underdogs, so to be here is a big boost to our development back home. "To come this far is a blessing. Before we came here we set a goal to reach the final so now we're in the semi-finals and we'll see how we go.

"But we are going to come and give 110 per cent against the Australians." Pundits give Fiji no hope of pulling off what would be one of the biggest upset in international rugby league history. But Pacific Islanders are not fazed by being such massive underdogs. "It's a blessing in disguise. This is what they did to us against France but we managed to come out on top," Dakuitoga said. Prop Ashton Sims said: "We're not coming into this game thinking of losing.

"We want to keep playing how we've been playing and hope for the best result." Regardless of the outcome of today's encounter, rugby league has taken massive strides forward in rugby union-mad Fiji thanks to the Bati's exploits during this World Cup. And their home country will come to a standstill today as the nation gather to watch their new heroes in action. "They have closed all the roads just to put in big screens so every-body can come and watch the game," Dakuitoga revealed.

"Everybody is talking about it back in Fiji. It's now the number one game. "I think the boys are ready for Australia." * PA Sport

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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.

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“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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