Mancini considers Adebayor for start

Roberto Mancini, the Manchester City manager, is toying with the idea of unleashing Emmanuel Adebayor against Arsenal, his former club, tomorrow.

The Togo forward staked his claim to start a league game for the second time this season by scoring a hat-trick - his first goals of the season - in the 3-1 Europa League win over Lech Poznan on Thursday.

Mancini favours playing Carlos Tevez as a lone striker but the Italian said he is seriously considering playing Adebayor against the club he left in 2009.

"It is possible he could play against Arsenal," Mancini said. "For a striker it is important to play well and his performance was excellent. But it is very important for them to score.

"Now he has a good chance to play against Arsenal."

Micah Richards, the City defender, said Adebayor had been walking around with his chin on the floor for the last few weeks, having failed to secure a place in Mancini's first choice line-up.

"Emmanuel has been quite down for the last couple of weeks but he is buzzing now," Richards said. "He has been hoping for a goal. With a hat-trick he should soon be flying again.

"I can understand his frustration. He is a quality player and when you don't get in the first XI it is frustrating. But we have a dressing room full of international stars, so when a chance comes along, you need to take it."

Adebayor is not the only one who has found it difficult coming to terms with the size of City's squad and the competition it provides.

Richards has played just 14 minutes in the past month and he was so keen to impress on Thursday night that he did not tell Mancini he was carrying an injury. "I had a dead leg, but there was no way I was going to miss out," said Richards, the England defender.

"The competition here is fierce and you have to maximise every opportunity. I started the season well. Now I have to be patient. There are so many players fighting for the same thing but the spirit amongst us is growing all the time."

RACE CARD

6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 – Group 1 (PA) $65,000 (Dirt) 2,000m

7.05pm: Handicap (TB) $65,000 (Turf) 1,800m

7.40pm: Meydan Classic – Listed (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,600m

8.15pm: Nad Al Sheba Trophy – Group 3 (TB) $195,000 (T) 2,810m

8.50pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (T) 2,000m

9.25pm: Meydan Challenge – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,400m

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

Read

Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi: Tackling climate change makes good business sense

65

%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EScott%20Beck%2C%20Bryan%20Woods%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAdam%20Driver%2C%20Ariana%20Greenblatt%2C%20Chloe%20Coleman%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

While you're here

Richard Heydarian: Across Asia there are crowds who can't get enough of Donald Trump

C Uday Bhaskar: The 'Asian Century' depends on China and India working together

Sholto Byrnes: Asia's bumpy trade routes are by no means dead-end streets

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.”

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed