Chelsea remain strong even after defeat

Rivals fail to capitalise on first defeat Chalk off loss to Mancini's team as they turn focus to the one prize that has eluded them Rob Shepherd Premier League correspondent Even when it looked like things were going wrong for Chelsea in the Premier League this weekend, it still turned out all right in the end.

The sixth round of matches began badly for the champions as they suffered their first defeat of the season - 1-0 at Manchester City. But events soon unfolded dramatically in their favour as title challengers Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur both lost, then, yesterday, Manchester United could only draw at Bolton Wanderers.

With their lead intact, ahead of next week's game against London rivals Arsenal, Chelsea now turn their focus to the one prize that has eluded them since Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003: the Champions League. Over the last few years Chelsea, have been desperately unlucky not the lift the trophy that Abramovich covets the most, including losing on penalties to Manchester United in the 2008 final.

The Champions League is Chelsea's primary objective this season, judging by the what John Terry, their captain, said after Chelsea had completed the league and FA Cup double last season. "There is no doubt in Roman's mind and all our minds - we clearly want to win the Champions League," Terry said . "He [Abramovich] said we must get it next season. We have come so close over the last five or six years and at times have been the best team in the competition yet haven't gone on to win it."

Terry reiterated the point a week ago when he said: "Until we win that trophy I'm not going to die a happy man. I will never give up hope of winning that trophy. I owe it to every Chelsea fan." Tomorrow's match at home is against a Marseille team managed by Didier Deschamps, a former Chelsea player. The French champions warmed up with a 2-1 win over Sochaux on Saturday night. City have their own European challenge this week when they take on Juventus, the Italian giants, in the Europa League, on Thursday. It is the kind of heavyweight clash they hope to be facing in the Champions League next season.

Dedryck Boyata, the 19-year-old Belgian defender, was impressive as a surprise starter against Chelsea and he could be given his chance again by Roberto Mancini, with Micah Richards struggling with injury. Boyata was surprised to have been selected for the Chelsea game. "Usually in the week we train with the starting XI and I was not in it," he said. "Then when I glanced up at the board to see who was in the actual side, I only saw the first two letters 'BO' and assumed Jerome Boateng was playing. It was only when it was actually read out that I realised it was me. I was quite shocked."

The question for Mancini is whether to keep Boyata in the team for the Juve game. David Silva should be available after limping off with a minor knee injury, while Boateng might also come into contention after making his debut as a substitute. sports@thenational.ae

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

Company Fact Box

Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019

Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO

Based: Amman, Jordan

Sector: Education Technology

Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed

Stage: early-stage startup

Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.

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The flights

Air France offer flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Cayenne, connecting in Paris from Dh7,300.

The tour

Cox & Kings (coxandkings.com) has a 14-night Hidden Guianas tour of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. It includes accommodation, domestic flights, transfers, a local tour manager and guided sightseeing. Contact for price.

Test

Director: S Sashikanth

Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan

Star rating: 2/5

UAE and Coronavirus

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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

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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.”