Having moved from one competition to another since the beginning of the year, Liam Livingstone is hoping to round off the season by leading Team Abu Dhabi to their first Abu Dhabi T10 title.
The England batting all-rounder has spent most of his time in bubbles and hotel rooms while playing for England, Lancashire, Birmingham Phoenix, Rajasthan Royals, Peshawar Zalmi and Perth Scorchers.
His last stop for the year is the Abu Dhabi T10, which gets underway with a double-header at the Zayed Cricket Stadium at Abu Dhabi Cricket on Friday.
The defending champions Northern Warriors take on Delhi Bulls in the opening game at 6pm, followed by the Livingstone-led Team Abu Dhabi versus Bangla Tigers at 8pm.
Playing in the shortest form of cricket, Livingstone believes it’s a format that suits his flamboyant style of batting and part-time bowling.
“I’m really excited to play in a tournament and format I haven’t played before,” the Team Abu Dhabi captain told The National.
“It will be nice to be involved in the tournament and play a different format of cricket. I have played in The Hundred in the summer in England and the T20 format as well and really excited to get going tomorrow.”
Teaming up with Livingstone in the fifth season of the tournament is the dashing West Indian batsman Chris Gayle, South Africans Colin Ingram, Chris Benjamin and Marchant de Lange, and fellow Englishman Jamie Overton.
“We have put together a really good squad,” Livingstone said of his side. “We got a lot of quality in our team and hopefully we can play the best cricket as the tournament goes on in this unpredictable format.
“Any team can beat anybody on the day. It needs a lot of luck and lot of skills and hopefully we have got the players to go all the way.”
Livingstone won the player of the tournament in inaugural The Hundred and he compared it to the T10 format.
“The Hundred format was really entertaining,” he said. “We needed a new format in England and it’s a format that everyone I believe enjoyed either playing or watching.
“I think it will spread out beyond England as the format gets played and get bigger and better.”
After the T10, Livingstone takes a well-earned break over Christmas. “It’s been really challenging to travel around and be in a bubble which was way more difficult than it would have been usually,” he added.
“I have said all along I want to play Test cricket. It’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid
Liam Livingstone
“Hopefully the bubble is coming to an end with life gradually becoming normal. I have been playing cricket for a long time and thankfully this is my last tournament and then I go into a six-week break over Christmas.
“I plan to spend some time with the family and friends which I haven’t been doing for the last two or three years.”
Livingstone has become a sensation in the shorter formats of the game in recent times but he’s not given up hopes of playing for England in Tests.
“I have said all along I want to play Test cricket,” he said. “It’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid.
“I wish the opportunity comes around for me to play Test cricket. If not, I’ll regret for the rest of my life as my cricketing career has been up and down.
“But another format of cricket is also something that has given me a lot of pleasure and satisfaction, and hopefully it will continue for the next couple of years.”
Speaking on England’s exit at the semi-final stage of the T20 World Cup in the UAE, Livingstone insisted they would be better from the experience ahead of the 2022 edition in Australia.
“We had a great T20 World Cup,” he said. “We played a lot of good cricket but ultimately we fell short at the second las hurdle.
“It’s not something we can be really disappointed about as we get another chance to win a World Cup in 12 months time.
“The experience I got in that six weeks is something I can take forward. It was a learner for us and hopefully we can move a couple of steps further in Australia.”
Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
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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.
“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.”
