Al Nasr 1 (Ibrahima Toure, 37’)
Al Shabab 1 (Nasser Masood, 19’)
Red card – Mahmoud Khamis (Al Nasr)
Man of the match – Carlos Villanueva (Al Shabab)
DUBAI // Ivan Jovanovic lauded his Al Nasr players on Thursday night after they battled with 10 men in the second half to share a point with Al Shabab.
Shabab took the lead through Nasser Masood in the 19th minute, but Nasr fought back to level the score in the 37th through Ibrahima Toure and then showed great spirit to hold on for a draw following Mahmoud Khamis’s 45th-minute expulsion after his second yellow card.
Even playing a man short, they looked better than the visitors moving forward and created several opportunities that kept the home fans entertained.
“I am very proud of how my players played both in the first half and the second half,” Jovanovic said. “In the first half, we controlled the pace of the game and the midfield line.
“Shabab had one chance and they opened the scores, but this did not take us out of the game. We continued to fight and finally managed to equalise, but the red card changed the whole balance of the game. We were forced to change the way we play.
“We had to close the gaps, get more organised at the back and try to create our chances on counter attacks. In order to play like this, you have to run a lot and put in a lot of effort on the field.
“That is why I am really proud of my players. Looking at the overall game, it’s a fair result, but for me, personally, looking at the effort my players made in the field, they are the winners tonight.”
Nasr did, indeed, deserve more from the game, and the Shabab coach Caio Junior was satisfied about returning with a point from the game.
The Brazilian said, however, that they could have generated more chances with their one-man advantage.
“Before the game, I thought getting one point here at Al Nasr would be a good result for us,” he said. “So I accept the result, but of course, we had 11 against 10 and Shabab could make only one goal. We tried but could not score.
"Anyway, one point against Nasr is good. Shabab played against three big teams in the first three games [after the Asian Cup break]. We lost 2-1 to Al Ain, beat Al Ahli 1-0 and now we finished 1-1 at Al Nasr. So four points against three of the best teams in this league is a good effort."
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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Credits
Produced by: Colour Yellow Productions and Eros Now
Director: Mudassar Aziz
Cast: Sonakshi Sinha, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jassi Gill, Piyush Mishra, Diana Penty, Aparshakti Khurrana
Star rating: 2.5/5
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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.”
