‘We know we have a tough battle on our hands’ says Wales’ Jenkins

Wales cap centurion and front-row warrior Gethin Jenkins accepts that “everything is on the line” in Sunday’s Six Nations showdown against England at Twickenham.

Jenkins and company will head to English rugby headquarters in pursuit of a fourth successive victory over their fiercest rivals.

It would also extend their hopes of achieving an unprecedented Six Nations title hat-trick into the tournament’s final weekend when they host struggling Scotland.

Resurgent England, though, will clinch a first Triple Crown since 2003 by avenging last season’s record 30-3 drubbing in Cardiff and edge closer towards potentially ending an 11-year title wait.

It will be triple Grand Slam winner Jenkins’ 10th Six Nations appearance against England - he has been on the losing side just three times - on a day that sees him equal Stephen Jones’ Wales record of 104 Test match appearances.

“There is no bigger challenge than playing at Twickenham,” Jenkins said.

“I’ve been lucky enough to get one or two wins there, but it is a fortress for them and a tough place to get a win, especially with the way England have been performing over the last year or two and the way they have progressed.

“They are a young team and a fit team. They seem to have a very good work ethos and they play for each other. We know we have a tough battle on our hands.

“Everything is on the line on Sunday. It’s pretty much whoever wins has a chance of getting the championship. If you lose, you are out of it.

“For us, having won it the last two years, we really want to make a good fist of retaining the trophy.”

Wales recovered from a Dublin no-show against Ireland four weeks ago by crushing France 27-6 last time out, and that impressive recovery act kick-started momentum that could yet lead to a fourth Six Nations crown of Warren Gatland’s coaching reign.

“We knew that Ireland wasn’t acceptable,” Jenkins added. “We were beaten in a lot of different areas.

“We accepted that training wasn’t as good as it could have been during that week and the standards weren’t where we wanted them to be.

“I suppose we just wanted to prove to ourselves and to the coaches what we could do (against France). We wanted to turn up on that Friday and put the Ireland game out of the memory. Luckily, we did that.

“In the build-up to the France game we went back to what we are strongest at, with sharp (training) sessions and fine detail which we may have let get away from us against Ireland.”

Prop Jenkins’ longevity at international rugby’s coal-face is impressive, given the punishing position he plays in, but the 33-year-old is showing no sign of slowing up as he prepares for another apppointment with England, more than 11 years after his first one.

“When I first came through it was a golden era for England. I was on the end of quite a few hammerings in those days,” he said.

“So yes, things have changed. They have been rebuilding for the last two or three years and they’ve brought a few younger players through.

“We went through that phase maybe two years before, but the way they have developed has made them a force in world rugby. Especially looking forward to the (2015) World Cup, they will be right up there.

“I’ve been on the end of a hiding quite a few times, but we’ve definitely got a stronger squad these days and we do have more confidence from winning the championship for the last two years.

“That has an effect, but it’s a massive game on the day, as we saw in Ireland. We didn’t go out there to lose the game, they just out-manoeuvred us and out-muscled us, and you have to bounce back from that.”

And as for equalling former fly-half Jones’ landmark, Jenkins said: “Stephen has been a great player over the years for Wales and it is a great achievement for me to get to the same level.

“But it won’t mean too much during the game. That is where you have to put the performance in and so it will be just like any other game. You have to play well to keep the jersey.”

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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.”