Al Jazira 4 Al Dhafra 0
ABU DHABI // Moments after Al Jazira ended their Arabian Gulf League season on a high with a 4-0 win over Al Dhafra last night, manager Henk ten Cate left his future at the club in doubt.
Ten Cate said he “needs to think” about whether to continue at Jazira, despite assurances from Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamdan, chairman of the Al Jazira Football Company, that the Dutchman will stay put.
“I came here for six months. Now it’s already 18 months,” Ten Cate said shortly after their final game at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium. “I don’t know if I want to continue as I’m coming to the end of my coaching career. We need to discuss things like this.”
The Dutchman revealed he had intended to stop coaching until Butti Al Qubaisi, a member of the club’s board of directors approached him last year.
“He’s been a long-time friend of mine and he was the man who got this team together,” he said. “It was he who insisted I stay after we won the President’s Cup. I’m not sure if I want to extend my stay again. I need to speak with my family and then decide.”
Ten Cate, however, was gushing in his tribute to the club he took over midway through 2015/16.
“It’s been a fantastic club to work with and now that they have a possibility of playing in the Club World Cup in December,” he said. “It’s a very big event and telecast all over the world, and if Jazira makes it, they will be watched by hundreds of millions of people.”
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Read more: Henk ten Cate dedicates AGL title to Al Jazira 'family' and kit-men in particular
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Ten Cate also said there was room for improvement and that the team were only playing 80-85 per cent of their potential.
“I think winning the AGL is the beginning of something nice for Jazira,” he said, before talking about the importance of growing the squad from within rather than from outside.
“The path we need to be following is to bring players from the academy,” Ten Cate said. “This season we had around five of them playing regularly. I think this is the pathway Jazira need to take and I think the club is on the right track on this. We can’t keep buying and buying players.
“The money that the UAE clubs are prepared to spend is not enough. We need to educate the young players in the country. Educating them must be the slogan. Not only for us but for the clubs all over the Emirates.”
Jazira’s celebration on the night was matched by a record-breaking performance on the pitch.
With the win, they became the first team to win 22 AGL matches since the league turned professional in 2008.
Jazira had the game firmly under control after finding the net three times in the first half, through Ali Mabkhout, Khalfan Mubarak and the Moroccan international Mbark Boussoufa.
Mabkhout, 26, added a second to his name after the break to take his tally to 33, the highest in the professional era. He broke the record previously held by Al Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan for Al Ain in 2012/13.
The UAE international also reached a personal milestone of 100 league goals in 154 games.
“We finished the season in style by breaking a record,” Ten Cate said. “I’m really pleased with the way it went.
“To be honest, it was a different emotion, for me at least. After the Hatta game [a win that clinched them the league title, with three games to space], I was excited but we didn’t celebrate,” he said.
“And tonight, we celebrated even though we won the league two weeks ago. It was a very special day for Jazira.
“This is not my championship. It’s our championship because every individual in this team did their part to win this title.”
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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.
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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.”
Omar Yabroudi's factfile
Born: October 20, 1989, Sharjah
Education: Bachelor of Science and Football, Liverpool John Moores University
2010: Accrington Stanley FC, internship
2010-2012: Crystal Palace, performance analyst with U-18 academy
2012-2015: Barnet FC, first-team performance analyst/head of recruitment
2015-2017: Nottingham Forest, head of recruitment
2018-present: Crystal Palace, player recruitment manager
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Tour de France 2017: Stage 5
Vittel - La Planche de Belles Filles, 160.5km
It is a shorter stage, but one that will lead to a brutal uphill finish. This is the third visit in six editions since it was introduced to the race in 2012. Reigning champion Chris Froome won that race.
