Cech prepared for Bolton backlash

Seemingly invincible at home yet susceptible away: this is an image Chelsea will be eager to dispel when they venture to the Reebok Stadium today. Bolton lie in wait, smarting from Wednesday's 4-0 Carling Cup loss in London against a Blues side sprinkled with reserves. Gary Megson, the Bolton manager, described it as a harsh lesson and does not want a repeat when they meet again.

What he will be looking for is a similar effort to the one Wigan and Aston Villa put up in Chelsea's last two Premier League trips. Set-piece deficiencies were highlighted on both occasions as Carlo Ancelotti's side tasted defeat and dropped points for the only times this season. With the delivery of Matt Taylor and the aerial threat of the combative and returning Kevin Davies, Bolton have the ingredients to provide an uncomfortable afternoon for the leaders.

Petr Cech, the Chelsea keeper, has not looked entirely convincing this season and he expects a bruising, physical test. He watched the cup game from the sidelines after being rested and said it was "not the real Bolton" on show. "I expect them to play a different game," he said. "They are very aggressive and put bodies into the box. It is a big fight. "They know whatever went wrong [in the cup game] cannot be repeated or they will lose 4-0 again, and can have a different approach to the game."

What concerns Megson is Chelsea may have wisened and tightened up. "Once these big teams get put under pressure they always come up with the goods afterwards," Megson said. The statistics show Megson could be right. Since the Villa Park defeat and strong words from Ancelotti over poor marking, his side have recorded three clean sheets - making it a top-flight record of eight in succession at home - and scored 13 goals. But until they rediscover their away form, concerns over consistency will remain.

akhan@thenational.ae Bolton v Chelsea, KO 7pm, Showsports 4

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013

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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.”