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United in spotlight again over signings

Manchester United look set to have to defend their signing of a teenage player for the second time in a week after the Italian club Fiorentina approached Fifa with a complaint.

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Manchester United look set to have to defend their signing of a teenage player for the second time in a week after the Italian club Fiorentina approached Fifa with a complaint. The Serie A club are angered at the Old Trafford side's signing of Michele Fornasier, a 16-year-old defender. United believe they have done nothing wrong. Players under 18 are not allowed to sign contracts with clubs under Italian law.

Fiorentina, however, are angered at losing one of their brightest prospects to the English champions and Fifa yesterday confirmed they have been contacted by the Italians. "So far no formal investigation was opened since the relevant documentation still needs to be completed," said a spokesman. "Only then will we be in a position to evaluate possible future steps to be taken." Fornasier is not the first Italian teenager signed by United; striker Federico Macheda joined from Lazio when he was 16, and another defender, Alberto Massacci, joined from Empoli this summer.

Empoli have not complained but United have asked the English Football Association to seek international clearance from Fifa for Massacci as none has been forthcoming from the Italian Football Association. Liverpool's Brazilian full-back Fabio Aurelio aims to prove his fitness this week in time for a possible return to first-team action. Liverpool will take on promoted Burnley at Anfield on Saturday and are at home to Hungarian side Debrecen in their opening Champions League group match on Wednesday.

Aurelio has yet to play this season, having spent the last few months recovering from a cartilage operation. He damaged his knee in a kickabout with friends while on holiday in Brazil earlier in the summer. He will play in a practice match today intent on proving he is fit for a comeback. "I am feeling good and working hard to try and get back into the squad for Saturday," he said. "I'm playing in a practice game tomorrow and I hope to prove my fitness and be involved against Burnley.

"The injury could not have come at a worse time. I was with my brother-in-law and some friends playing football and joking around and suddenly I felt something strange in my knee. "I called my old team Sao Paulo and they found there was a cartilage injury. I got permission to get the knee operated on. It was my holiday and I spent the rest of the time recovering. "It feels fine now, I am now back and hoping to help the team."

Carson Yeung is confident of completing his takeover of Birmingham City in the next few weeks. The Hong Kong businessman has secured a £57million (Dh346m) bridging loan to enable him to finance the deal. * With agencies

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2018 World Cup qualifying: Asia fourth round play-off first leg
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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.”

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