Gemini Arabians 191/5 (20/20 ov)
Sehwag 83, Sangakkara 62; Best 3-24
Sagittarius Strikers 181/6 (20/20 ov)
Jayawardene 65, Mustard 48 not out; Onions 3-37
Gemini Arabians won by 10 runs
Virender Sehwag moved a step closer to lifting the first Masters Champions League trophy, after his Gemini Arabians side beat Sagittarius Strikers by 10 runs at Dubai International Stadium on Thursday evening.
The former India opener, whose presence in the competition for retired international players has been one of the major attractions of the MCL, top scored with 83.
Going in to tomorrow night’s final, when they will meet the winner of today’s second semi-final between Leo Lions and Virgo Super Kings, he still trails one of his teammates at the top of the run-scoring charts, though.
Kumar Sangakkara extended his lead at the head of that list. The Sri Lankan great made a 43-ball 62, to take his aggregate for the competition to 356.
Sehwag, who clinched Gemini’s place in the knockout stage by hitting a blistering century in Sharjah earlier in the week, has 309.
Inter-team competitions such as that must have helped sustain the Arabians side, so rarely have they been challenged in the first MCL.
They won all five of their group matches, and their tally of 191 for five was comfortably out of reach of the Strikers this time, too.
That was despite the efforts of Sangakkara’s former Sri Lanka teammate, Mahela Jayawardene.
Jayawardene, who is third in the list of run-scorers, made 65 at the top of the order for the Strikers. When he went, though, they run-chase was always likely to fall short.
Englishman Graham Onions, one of the MCL players who still harbours aspirations of making it back to international cricket, took three wickets for the Arabians.
That included both the celebrated Strikers openers, Adam Gilchrist and Jayawardene, as well as the former Pakistan all-rounder Yasir Arafat.
Onions’s colleague with Durham in English county cricket, Phil Mustard, at least took Strikers close, as he lashed five sixes in an innings of 48 that took just 18 balls, but he had been left with too much to do.
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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.”
Brief scores:
Manchester United 4
Young 13', Mata 28', Lukaku 42', Rashford 82'
Fulham 1
Kamara 67' (pen),
Red card: Anguissa (68')
Man of the match: Juan Mata (Man Utd)
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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