DAEGU, SOUTH KOREA // Oscar Pistorius kept in contention at his first world championships by finishing third in his heat to reach the semi-finals of the 400-metres today.
In pictures: Athletics world championships
Pictures from day two of the championships in Daegu, South Korea.
The South African known as "Blade runner", who has had to overcome huge legal and performance obstacles just to be allowed to race in Daegu on his prosthetic legs, delighted the crowd with a strong run of 45.39 seconds from an outside lane.
The crowd rose to the double amputee as he powered down the final straight before a band of his compatriots chanted "Oscar! Oscar!" to confirm the 24-year-old as one of the sentimental favourites of the championships.
Running in lane eight after a false start had increased the tension, the four-time Paralympic champion finished 0.1secs behind winner Chris Brown, with the Briton Martyn Rooney second.
"I feel like any other athlete here, everyone makes sacrifices to be here," Pistorius said. "I don't feel like a pioneer.
"It was a great opportunity to have the chance to come and run, it's a dream I have had for many, many years.
"I've run my second fastest time so I could not have asked for anything better.
"It's a big sense of relief. I hadn't raced for over a month so I was a bit nervous. You've worked hard to get here and once you're here you don't want to let it slide.
Pistorius, who has a personal best of 45.07s, admitted reaching the final might be beyond him.
"If I look at the times, I'm a realist. I know what I'm capable of. When I raced that 45.07 everything went right.
"It's going to take a lot of work to get close to that tomorrow and I don't think that will be enough to reach the final."
Amid the questions over his participation, Pistorius had backing from one of his rivals in Rooney.
"Myself and Oscar are good friends. He said a prayer for me and you don't get that from a lot of competitors," the European bronze medallist said.
"I am happy for him. There are too many people playing up the negative like he is ruining the Paralympics but I don't think so.
"He is publicising it as a world semi-finalist."
Earlier, the defending champion LaShawn Merritt of the US had stamped his authority on the event with the fastest time of the year of 44.35 to win his heat in impressive style.
The American, also the Olympic champion, had raced just once before Sunday since returning from a 21-month doping suspension in July.
"I've never worked harder, it was a little faster than I thought it would be but I was comfortable," he said.
Merritt confirmed that Pistorius was a favourite not only with the crowd.
"He ran the time to get here, I had a little time to talk to him and he's a great person with a great personality," he said. "He's dedicated and motivated and has a great heart. I wish all the best to him."
Young Grenadans Kirani James (45.12) and Rondell Bartholomew (44.82), the fastest men this year before Merritt's run today in the heats, also eased into tomorrow's semi-finals.
American champion Tony McQuay, who held the fourth best time of the year, made a surprise exit, however, after pulling up with a hamstring strain.
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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