Ashley Young expects Tom Cleverley, his new Manchester United teammate, to grasp his England opportunity with both hands.
Less than 24 hours after his outstanding second-half cameo in the Community Shield win over Manchester City at Wembley, Cleverley was drafted into Fabio Capello's squad to face World Cup runners-up Holland at Wembley tomorrow.
The only surprise for Young is that Cleverley, who celebrates his 22nd birthday on Friday, had to wait for injuries to rule out Jack Wilshere and Michael Carrick before receiving the good news.
"Tom is worthy of his place in the squad," said Young.
"I actually thought he might have been in it earlier. It is a massive achievement but I have worked with him for a few weeks now.
"He did really well on tour and his performance [in the Community Shield], for such a youngster, was excellent. He is a confident person and controlled the game."
The Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, had already declared that Wilshere would not face the Dutch due to an ankle injury, but Capello had included him in the 25-man squad on Saturday.
For Young it promises to be a particularly significant week, after collecting a first winners' medal for his new club and also being in the England party.
Young exchanged with Micah Richards, who is also in the squad, over the City defender's challenge at Wembley. "When you meet up with England, you forget everything although, in any case, as we won, I was happy," he said.
Meanwhile, Alan Thompson, the Celtic first team coach, wants Kris Commons to withdraw from the Scotland squad for the friendly against Denmark at Hampden tomorrow night.
The midfielder turned up yesterday with a foot injury, sustained in Sunday's Premier League win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie, and then returned to Lennoxtown for treatment. Commons has not ruled himself out and will report back to Craig Levein today, but Thompson does not believe the game merits taking any chances.
"I think the important word is friendly," the former Celtic midfielder said. "Had it been a qualifier for Scotland then it puts a different slant on it.
Robert Earnshaw, the Wales striker, has hit out at the Fifa world rankings, and insists Gary Speed's men will be paying no attention to them as they look ahead to their World Cup qualifying campaign.
Wales lie joint 112th in the standings, level with Faroe Islands, who were seeded above them at the recent draw for the 2014 qualifiers.
And Earnshaw believes their current position is false given the calibre of players such as Craig Bellamy, Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey.
He said: "I think the rankings are fake, they don't tell the truth.
"I know they have to have them and put everybody into groups when they need to be drawn but they don't tell the truth about what is really going on".
Earnshaw, who has 54 caps and 16 goals to his name, has been buoyed by Wales' Group A draw for those World Cup qualifiers.
They have avoided drawing big names such as Germany, Spain and Holland and are grouped with Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland and Macedonia, who will be coached by the former Wales boss John Toshack.
In Spain, Nacho Monreal, the Malaga left-back, has been called into the squad for tomorrow's friendly against Italy in Bari, the Spanish Football Federation have confirmed.
Monreal, who joined Malaga from Osasuna this summer, replaces the injured Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos. The 25-year-old Monreal has won four caps for Spain.
The federation also confirmed the Barcelona midfielder Xavi would miss tomorrow's game because of an injury to his right leg.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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.”
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
How to invest in gold
Investors can tap into the gold price by purchasing physical jewellery, coins and even gold bars, but these need to be stored safely and possibly insured.
A cheaper and more straightforward way to benefit from gold price growth is to buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Most advisers suggest sticking to “physical” ETFs. These hold actual gold bullion, bars and coins in a vault on investors’ behalf. Others do not hold gold but use derivatives to track the price instead, adding an extra layer of risk. The two biggest physical gold ETFs are SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust.
Another way to invest in gold’s success is to buy gold mining stocks, but Mr Gravier says this brings added risks and can be more volatile. “They have a serious downside potential should the price consolidate.”
Mr Kyprianou says gold and gold miners are two different asset classes. “One is a commodity and the other is a company stock, which means they behave differently.”
Mining companies are a business, susceptible to other market forces, such as worker availability, health and safety, strikes, debt levels, and so on. “These have nothing to do with gold at all. It means that some companies will survive, others won’t.”
By contrast, when gold is mined, it just sits in a vault. “It doesn’t even rust, which means it retains its value,” Mr Kyprianou says.
You may already have exposure to gold miners in your portfolio, say, through an international ETF or actively managed mutual fund.
You could spread this risk with an actively managed fund that invests in a spread of gold miners, with the best known being BlackRock Gold & General. It is up an incredible 55 per cent over the past year, and 240 per cent over five years. As always, past performance is no guide to the future.
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
