David Moyes, the Manchester United manager, admitted it would have been impossible to replace talisman Wayne Rooney at Old Trafford.
Rooney celebrated signing a new five-and-a-half year contract by sealing United's 2-0 Premier League win at Crystal Palace with a superb volleyed finish to double the advantage following Robin van Persie's penalty.
Following the success at Selhurst Park which put United sixth in the table, Manchester manager Moyes saluted the 28-year-old England striker and believes he will only get better after putting him in the bracket of the best players in world football.
Moyes said: “He’s a really important player and you think about the amount of clubs who wanted to sign him. He would have been too difficult to replace. There aren’t enough top players out there that you can get cheaply or easily.
“Wayne’s one of them, one of the top players. He shows it week in, week out for us and you can see the change in him - his leadership, what he’s trying to bring to the team.
“We want him to keep at it and I’m sure he will. He’s a boy who wants to continue to get better.”
Moyes, Rooney and United now travel to Greece for Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 tie against Olympiakos.
And the United chief, who has endured a difficult first term in charge following Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, hopes his men can gain in belief from their victory in south London and finish the season on a high.
Moyes added: “We have a really big European tie coming up on Tuesday night and our focus goes on to that.
We wanted to win the game to make sure we go into that game in good form and confidence. It’s such a big game for us.
“We haven’t played for ten days so I wanted to make sure all the players were ready and focussed for the game and ready to perform again.
“We’ve a few injuries but hopefully we will get a few of them back for Tuesday. They have a chance. I have to see how Phil Jones and Jonny Evans are.
“Rafa (Rafael) as well. We’ll have a look at them tomorrow and hopefully see if they can join us.”
Palace, meanwile, remain two points above the relegation zone, but Eagles manager Tony Pulis insists his side need to start achieving positive results.
Pulis said: “Every game whether it’s home or away matters. We have to start collecting the points. We’re in it with 12 other teams. It will go right to the end.
“Whether it’s against the top four or five, there’s always three points. We have to scrap and fight for everything against every team.
“Today was disappointing. The penalty gave United the leg up they were looking for.
“We needed one or two of our forward players to play better than they did today in terms of possession.
“Even the second goal, Marouane seems to fall over the ball when there is no-one around him. The goal comes from that. You need your top players to play well.
“Marouane has been fantastic for us this year. He still gave us enormous commitment, but that was probably as poor as he has played in possession of the ball. He’s very good at that.”
Pulis was able to call on fit-again Glenn Murray after the striker ended a nine-month injury nightmare.
Pulis added: “I was pleased with Glenn. It was just disappointing we couldn’t keep him on a bit longer. That was enough for him today. That will do him the world of good.”
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Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
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.”
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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