The Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning drops back to pass during a pre-season game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning drops back to pass during a pre-season game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Sport

Manning, the benchmark for aspiring quarterbacks

After 11 seasons, Peyton Manning is within striking distance of becoming the biggest winner among quarterbacks in Indianapolis Colts' history.

Michael Marot

September 11, 2009

INDIANAPOLIS // Peyton Manning embraces all those titles he has had over the years. The No 1 draft pick, record-setter, most valuable player (MVP), perennial Pro Bowler and, naturally, Super Bowl champion. He's lived up to all of them, but the only one that really mattered to Manning was being called a winner. Now, after 11 seasons, Manning is within striking distance of becoming the biggest winner among quarterbacks in Indianapolis Colts' history. A win over Jacksonville Jaguars in Sunday's season-opener would tie him with Johnny Unitas' team record for career victories (118).

"That's something that so many people contributed to, and I'm proud to have been a part of that," says Manning. "The goal has always been to win, and that's what Unitas was, a winner." Many believe Manning's final numbers will wind up being the gold standard by which future generations of quarterbacks are measured - much like Unitas, Fran Tarkenton and Dan Marino before him. And Brett Favre more recently.

Manning won a record-tying third league MVP award last season despite coming back from two surgeries for an infection in his left knee. He ranks fourth on the NFL's career list for touchdown passes (333), is seventh in yards passing (45,628) and has shown no signs of slowing down. He has broken Unitas' Colts records for attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns - in 30 fewer games than it took Unitas. Manning also broke Dan Marino's single-season record for touchdown passes with 49 in 2005 before Tom Brady shattered that.

And Manning has even been a key part of the record-setting accomplishments of others. He and Marvin Harrison combined for more completions, yards and touchdowns than any passing duo in league history, and it was Manning-to-Harrison that produced a record 143-catch season in 2002. Manning's nine seasons of at least 10 wins are tied for most in league history with Favre. His 117 career wins work out to a remarkable 10.7 per season.

"Eleven wins a season for 11 seasons, that's hard for anybody to do," said the Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri, a four-time Super Bowl champ who played with Brady in New England. "He works hard in the weight room, on the field and in meetings, and he pulls everybody along with him. This franchise is extremely lucky to have him." "He prepares the exact same way every year," says the coach Jim Caldwell. "You can literally set your watch with his routine."

"I don't ever take for granted being able to start every game," Manning says. "I've just tried to be there every week for my team, and that's what I'm going to continue to do." * AP

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The specs

Engine: 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6

Power: 540hp at 6,500rpm

Torque: 600Nm at 2,500rpm

Transmission: Eight-speed auto

Kerb weight: 1580kg

Price: From Dh750k

On sale: via special order

Kathryn Hawkes of House of Hawkes on being a good guest (because we’ve all had bad ones)

  • Arrive with a thank you gift, or make sure you have one for your host by the time you leave. 
  • Offer to buy groceries, cook them a meal or take your hosts out for dinner.
  • Help out around the house.
  • Entertain yourself so that your hosts don’t feel that they constantly need to.
  • Leave no trace of your stay – if you’ve borrowed a book, return it to where you found it.
  • Offer to strip the bed before you go.
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THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick

Hometown: Cologne, Germany

Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)

Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes

Favourite hobby: Football

Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk

Skewed figures

In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458. 

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.”