Prince William boxes in his suit at sports charity anniversary

Prince William donned a pair of boxing gloves but neglected to change out of his suit as he praised the power of sport to provide “hope, connection and opportunity”, while celebrating the 10th anniversary of the charity Coach Core, established by his Royal Foundation.

As well as boxing the prince had a go at a penalty shoot-out while his wife Catherine, the Princess of Wales, had a go at wheelchair bowls at the Copper Box Arena in Queen Elizabeth Park, East London, the home of the London 2012 Olympics.

Prince William and Princess Catherine's Royal Foundation launched the Coach Core programme the same year with the aim of creating the next generation of sports coaches who will themselves go on to inspire their communities.

In a speech to mark the 10-year milestone of Coach Core, now an independent charity, the prince spoke of the “incredible achievements” of the organisation.

The celebration allowed Coach Core apprentices to show guests, who included representations from the charity's partner organisations, activities like boxing, wheelchair bowls and a version of pool, where cues and balls are replaced by footballs and the balls kicked into large pockets.

Catherine, Princess of Wales plays boccia. Getty

Prince William himself was tutored by amateur boxers Gabrielle Reid, 18, and 21-year-old Joshua Jones — who are both two months into their Coach Core courses and took it in turns to give the future king a brief training session.

The 18-year-old from Bournemouth watched as William snapped out the jabs and combination shots and then handed him over to her colleague who lightly sparred with the royal.

Ms Reid said: “He picked it up very fast and he said he had boxed before. I didn't have to teach him much. I'm not going to forget this experience, it was crazy.”

Prince William, Prince of Wales spars with amateur boxer and Coach Core coach Joshua Jones. Getty

The 21-year-old added: “I just went over the fundamentals of boxing — I showed him the jab, backhand and I showed him how to throw a one-two, and his stance and guard.

“He enjoyed it, he said he'd done a bit a before but had a little knuckle injury so wouldn't be taking it up any time soon.”

Among Coach Core's ambassadors are England and Manchester City Women's captain Steph Houghton, gymnast Max Whitlock — a six-time Olympic medallist — and tennis coach Judy Murray.

“We're helping a lot more kids involved in sport by providing good coaches, good role models and [helping] these people into full-time employment — which is incredible,” said Whitlock.

“Two of the biggest problems in gymnastics — it's the same in most sports — is space and coaches.

“Obviously Coach Core is trying to fulfil that need for more and more good quality coaches to support these children who are coming through.”

Prince William with celebrities over the years — in pictures

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Company Profile

Company name: Fine Diner

Started: March, 2020

Co-founders: Sami Elayan, Saed Elayan and Zaid Azzouka

Based: Dubai

Industry: Technology and food delivery

Initial investment: Dh75,000

Investor: Dtec Startupbootcamp

Future plan: Looking to raise $400,000

Total sales: Over 1,000 deliveries in three months

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.”