Webber slams taxi ride reprimand as ‘comical’

Australian Mark Webber has branded the reprimand he was given for hitching a ride on Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari after the Singapore Grand Prix night race “comical”.

The reprimands for the Red Bull driver and Alonso have been a talking point since Sunday with Webber also collecting a 10 place grid penalty on the starting grid for next week’s Korean Grand Prix because of two previous offences.

Webber told his 765,000 followers on Twitter on Tuesday that for the pair “to receive reprimands for our actions after the race it is comical to say the least. Great moment, and fans loved it.

“And while I’m at it, contrary to reports, there was no interaction at all with any track officials after we put the fire out.”

The Australian had retired on the last lap at the Marina Bay street circuit after his car ran out of water and the engine caught fire.

He then ran back on the floodlit track to wave down Alonso’s Ferrari, which other cars had to weave to avoid, on the slowing down lap and ride back to the pits on it.

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, one of those who took avoiding action, said afterwards that he had been shocked when he came around the corner.

“If Mark had been walking across where I went then I would have run him over,” said the 2008 world champion.

Britain’s Derek Warwick, a former grand prix racer who was one of the stewards in Singapore, said the reprimands were fully justified because of the potential danger posed.

“It is not health and safety gone mad,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “A driver could easily have been hurt. I hope we’re not seen as killjoys.

Webber posted a picture on Twitter of Warwick hitching a ride on the back of Austrian Gerhard Berger’s Ferrari at the 1988 Japanese Grand Prix as well as other photographs of similar incidents over the years.

“Looks like even one of the Singapore stewards has done it...#C’estlavie,” he commented.

sports@thenational.ae

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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.”