Sport

Haye ready to face both Klitschko brothers

David Haye promised that he will fight the Klitschko brothers in unification bouts before retiring next year.

Press Association

November 15, 2010

David Haye promised that he will fight the Klitschko brothers in unification bouts before retiring next year following his routine victory over Audley Harrison.

The three-round stoppage over Harrison in Manchester, England, was staged only because fights with Vitali Klitschko, the WBC champion, and Wladimir, the IBF, IBO and WBO holder, failed to come to fruition.

Haye believes all parties want the fights to happen. He is confident they will take place next year because he plans to retire in 2011.

"We'll sit down and try to make it happen," he said. "We were talking to them before the fight, but things didn't go the way we wanted them to go.

"Fingers crossed, they will realise after this fight, once they see the [box office] numbers, they will realise I am the main man. There's no one else for them to fight."

Harrison barely threw a punch and looked like a frightened rabbit from the first bell, freezing in the third when Haye began leaping into shots. With Harrison not defending himself, let alone throwing anything back, the referee Luis Pabon halted the action at 1min 53secs of the third round.

Harrison rejected the suggestion he brought nothing to the fight. "I wouldn't accept that at all. It was a bit cat-and-mouse early on but anybody who watched me and David spar many rounds in the past, that's how it is with us because he's a counter-puncher and so am I."

The crowd booed the listless first two rounds before the exciting third. When the fight was over, their ire was directed at Harrison, with merciless chants ridiculing the challenger.

"I knew the jeers would turn to cheers in a matter of moments," Haye said. "I knew I was going to take him out, and two rounds of boos was a small price to pay."

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

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.”