Ayman Al Ramadi, the Egyptian coach of Dubai, has confidence in the club's two new foreign recruits to help them beat the drop in the Pro League.
After announcing the return of the veteran Brazilian striker Denilson last month, the Al Aweer club have made another change, bringing in Abbas Ahmed Atwi, a Lebanese midfielder.
The pair replace the Moroccan striker Nabil Daoudi and Ulugbek Bakayev, the Uzbek forward, while Simon Feindouno and Abubakr Camara have retained their place among Dubai's quota of foreign players.
Dubai have only five points from nine Pro League matches and lie second from the bottom, two points above Emirates. Two of those points may be taken away from them shortly - their 1-1 draw with Sharjah was credited as a 3-0 win after their opponents fielded a player deemed ineligible. Sharjah have appealed the decision.
Dubai face Al Wasl on Thursday evening, and Denilson is expected to lead the attack against Diego Maradona's team.
"I am not concerned about the progress of Dubai in the Pro League, though we have only five points at this stage," said Al Ramadi, who is the club's fourth coach this season. "My optimism comes from the players we have. We are a good team, and the arrival of new players will make us stronger.
"We all know what Denilson is capable of. He is a striker of the highest calibre and has proven it in many different leagues. He is certainly a valuable addition."
Denilson, 35, played for Dubai earlier in his career, spending two seasons from 2002 to 2004. He has also spent four seasons with Al Nasr and Al Shabab before moving to Mexico and then South Korea.
The Brazilian scored four goals for Pohang Steelers at the 2009 Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi, and that tally puts him at the top of the tournament's all-time scorers alongside Lionel Messi.
Atwi, 32, has spent his entire professional career, which started in 1997, at Nejmeh in Lebanon. He has won five championships and has also been voted the best player in Lebanon four times and has been the recipient of the best goal of the season title on three times.
The Lebanese will take over the role of the Asian player in the squad from Bakayev.
"Bakayev is a good player, but he suffers because of the communication gap with the other players," said Al Ramadi. "Language is a barrier for him."
Wasl, who are also looking to change two of their foreign professionals, moved a step closer towards landing the Argentine international Juan Ignacio Mercier.
The player's agent arrived in Dubai for talks, and the Saudi Arabia club Al Nassr, who had signed a two-year deal with the midfielder in July, have agreed on a financial settlement with the player and given Mercier the go-ahead.
Wasl are looking to replace Chile's Edson Puch, who has a four-year contract with the club, and Richard Porta. Ferydoon Zandi, the Iran international, is being tipped as Australian Porta's replacement to fill the Asian player's slot.
Another player from the Saudi league could be headed for Dubai, as Al Ahli are interested in Al Hilal's Achille Emana, according to media reports in Saudi Arabia.
The Cameroon international, who has played for Toulouse in France and the Spanish club Real Betis, arrived at the Saudi club in July, but has fallen out with his manager Thomas Doll.
Quique Sanchez Flores, the Ahli manager, knows Emana, 29, from his time coaching in Spain, and the club have approached Hilal for a six-month loan deal, reports said.
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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.”
Points tally
1. Australia 52; 2. New Zealand 44; 3. South Africa 36; 4. Sri Lanka 35; 5. UAE 27; 6. India 27; 7. England 26; 8. Singapore 8; 9. Malaysia 3
