As it prepares for the 20th anniversary of its formation, in 2012, the Champions League will not look back with huge pride on the group stage of the current competition.
Sure, it has had its moments, its glamour ties, such as AC Milan against Real Madrid, but, looked at through the lense of greater diversity, wider opportunities for the upwardly mobile, the values Michel Platini, the Uefa president, wants injected into the event, the picture is cloudy. This has so far been a polarised edition of club football's greatest tournament.
Ask MSK Zilina, the Slovakian champions. They have conceded 17 goals in five matches on their debut among the 32 elite teams of the European continent.
Their points yield is zero, their impact appreciated mostly by Bursapor, the Turkish league title-holders, whose record of conceding, on average, three goals in each of their group games was set to make theirs the worst defensive record on display, until Zilina let in seven against Marseille.
Bursapor played 429 minutes of Champions League group-stage football before scoring their only goal. Partizan Belgrade, meanwhile, actually scored an equaliser at home to Arsenal, whom they meet again in London tomorrow, back in September. But they lost, and have not scored since. Like Bursaspor and Zilina, they are without points or prospects.
If Arsenal have made life strangely difficult for themselves, the Champions League seems a far easier environment than the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Manchester United, who all top their groups. Real Madrid and Barcelona secured first place in their mini-leagues ahead of deadline, while, of the Italians, Roma need only a point to join AC Milan and Inter Milan in the next phase.
As for Germany's finest, only Werder Bremen are gasping for air. Their struggles in the Bundesliga have been matched in Europe. But Bayern Munich and Schalke - both through to the last 16 - must wish they could play Champions League opposition, rather than compatriot teams, every weekend.
Especially Schalke, Europe's most Jekyll-and-Hyde club. Having made their big splashes in the summer transfer window, hiring the Champions League legend Raul from Real Madrid, the prolific Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from Milan and the playmaker Jose Manuel Jurado from Atletico Madrid, they promptly plummeted in the domestic table, losing their first four Bundesliga fixtures.
They suffered defeat on Matchday One in Group B of the Champions League, too, against Lyon, but in Europe, their fortunes would alter much sooner than in the Bundesliga, where they remain 15th, one place above the relegation play-off position, with just four wins from 15 games.
In the Champions League they have three wins from five, and will guarantee their status as group winners if they beat Benfica, who are competing only for Europa League status, in Lisbon tonight.
Now compare Schalke's form against Champions League opposition with their record against non-Champions League teams, and their dual personality is even more pronounced.
Their two most recent wins against German teams have been at the expense of Bremen, who they thrashed 4-0, and Bayern, who they beat 2-0 at the weekend: Bayern and Bremen are both in the Champions League; Kaiserslautern, who walloped Schalke 5-0 nine days ago, are not.
One theory offered to explain this sort of inconsistency is that the newcomers, such as Raul and Huntelaar, need more adapting to the Bundesliga than to competitions in which they have been involved, with other clubs, for several years.
Raul, after a slow start domestically, is now finding the net regularly, though he must at times have wondered what he let himself in for at Schalke.
Felix Magath, the coach, suspended three players, Jermain Jones, Hans Sarpei and Alex Baumjohann after the Kaserslauten debacle. "I don't like their attitude," he said. He also threatened the rest of the squad with a shorter than anticipated holiday over the winter break.
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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Sri Lanka squad for tri-nation series
Angelo Mathews (c), Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Janith Perera, Thisara Perera, Asela Gunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Dushmantha Chameera, Shehan Madushanka, Akila Dananjaya, Lakshan Sandakan and Wanidu Hasaranga
The biog
Name: Salem Alkarbi
Age: 32
Favourite Al Wasl player: Alexandre Oliveira
First started supporting Al Wasl: 7
Biggest rival: Al Nasr
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.”
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