DUBAI // Gabriel Calderon arrived at his introductory briefing with Al Wasl, where he was unveiled as the club’s 10th coach in two-and-a-half years and immediately seemed surprised by the sparse turnout.
“Only these people?” he said as he scanned the room.
Perhaps it was the hour, since 5pm on a Thursday is not an ideal time to navigate the traffic around Zabeel Stadium. Or maybe it was just that new coaches at Wasl are old hat.
Either way, he obviously felt compelled to justify his latest role, which began officially on Wednesday after the club parted company with Jorginho a day earlier. The Brazilian lasted little more than four months.
Calderon appeared unperturbed by his predecessor’s swift demise, though.
Unlike Jorginho, the Argentine manager has coached in this region for the best part of a decade, save for six months earlier this year in Spain with Real Betis.
Those spells in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain, not to mention in the UAE with Baniyas, have provided him a certain self-assurance. He put forward a pretty compelling argument, too.
“I have confidence in my job, every time,” said Calderon, 54, in competent English. “Because of this, I accept that I don’t need to take two or three years, because in one month, you will know the work of Calderon.
“After 10 years in the area, all the people know. So I have confidence in my job, confidence in knowing the mentality and the level of the Arabic players, that normally when they work with Calderon, they have good results. In the long run, I’m sure there will be very, very good results.”
History suggests he will have his work cut out. Wasl have endured a difficult time this season, winning once in six matches, and sit 10th in the Arabian Gulf League.
Under Jorginho, they looked slow and sluggish, although any side trying to come to terms with such a summer of upheaval would take a while to find their feet.
Since June, Wasl have recruited 14 players, including a complete overhaul of their foreign roster. It was little wonder, then, that even Calderon accepted that he required that all-too-precious commodity: patience.
“Of course, the coach needs time to work, but with a new coach, sometimes the spirit and mentality of the players changes, and because they already have quality, these together makes it possible to achieve good results,” he said.
“I have been very happy with the players – their spirit and their hard work – in training.
“But the team will not look 100 per cent like a Calderon team in two matches. I explain this because it is the reality, but it is no excuse for after the Wahda match. I’ve been working a lot with the team these three days to arrive in the best condition to get a good result.”
Wahda, the league leaders, represent Calderon’s immediate objective, while he was reluctant to set targets for the season.
Expectations from Wasl regarding their new manager are equally unclear, although Calderon insists he will have the full support of the club board.
Because of that, he did not need an overt show of faith – Wasl signed him for one year – since he feels the club want success just as quickly as he does.
“I know very well the history of Al Wasl in last three or four years,” he said. “But I’m looking only for the chairman, the managers and the people at Al Wasl to have confidence in me and confidence in my job. I thank them for this.
“And because they have 100 per cent confidence in me, my job now is to return that confidence. It starts with the good team and the good results.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
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.”
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
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Rating: 4.5/5
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