Jose Junior proved his victory over Ricardo Evangelista in the Ras Al Khaimah Jiu-Jitsu Open last December was no fluke after repeating the feat in the Fujairah Open over the weekend.
Junior, in fact, won the re-match more convincingly with a 6-0 score in an All-Brazilian final in the absolute class at the Khalifa Hall in Fujairah to improve his record to 2-1 over Evangelista.
He also completed a double having defeated Egyptian Tarek Matar earlier in the black belt absolute class in the No-Gi (without the traditional kimono) competition on the opening day.
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In their first meeting in the UAE, Junior suffered a semi-final defeat to Evangelista in the 94-kilogramme weight division but bounced back to claim the absolute class, both in the RAK Open in December.
“Since that win, I have worked harder with the hope of returning to full-time competition this season,” Junior said. “If I stay injury-free, the plan this season is to compete in the Sharjah Open in two weeks, the Grand Slam London in March, the Abu Dhabi World Professional Championships in April and the World Championships in California in June.
“I had to give up competing at the top flight because of work commitments but the hunger to compete has returned.
“Now I have managed to squeeze in more training time. It is tough, as I have to divide time between work and family to train long hours. I think I still have the old fire burning inside to return to top flight competition.”
Junior, 30, has appeared at the Abu Dhabi Pro four times and won two silver and a bronze medal. He skipped last year’s competition because of injury.
The two remaining finals in the black belt categories were also All-Brazilian affairs. Ygor Machado Dantas who defeated compatriot Luis Venturino in the 85kg men’s final and Marina Ribeiro took the women’s open weight final from Marcela Caiafa.
Zayed Al Kaabi was the pick of the Emiratis. A member of the UAE men’s team, he won a double in the purple belt, defeating compatriot Ibrahim Al Hosani in the 94kg final and Serbian Milos Mladenovic in the open class.
Shamsa Hasan and Shafaa Hassan, both members of the UAE women’s national team, emerged winners of their respective weight categories.
Shamsa got the better of Moroccan Issrine Chahdi in the blue belt 55kg final and Shefaa overcame Anita Mazar of Serbia in the white belt +70kg.
The Emiratis amassed 24 gold medals of the 49 that were up for grabs in the fourth domestic competition conducted by the UAEJJF after the Al Ain, Dubai and RAK Open.
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- Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War by Tim Bouverie
- Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me by Kate Clanchy
- Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
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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.”
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
