Newcastle United took a giant stride towards Champions League qualification after a sensational 6-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at St James' Park.
Eddie Howe's side ripped apart their Premier League top-four rivals from the first whistle, scoring five times in the opening 21 minutes.
Jacob Murphy and Alexander Isak both scored two, while Joelinton grabbed the other as Spurs capitulated in disastrous fashion.
Harry Kane managed to pull a goal back straight after half-time for the visitors only for substitute Callum Wilson to restore Newcastle's five-goal advantage moments after coming on.
The victory moved the Magpies ahead of Manchester United and up to third in the table on goal difference.
More importantly, it means Eddie Howe's side are now six points clear of Spurs in fifth while also enjoying a game in hand on the North London club.
Howe had demanded a response from his team after their 3-0 defeat at Aston Villa last week – and his players certainly did not let him down.
“That's the reaction we wanted and an incredible start,” said the Newcastle manager. “The crowd were incredible for us.
“You don't expect that [result]. The quality of our finishing was incredible. They weren't stick-on goals. We were lethal in front of goal.
“Everything about our first half an hour was where we want to be.
“Since I walked through the door here the players have responded so well. I can't thank them enough.”
It was a humiliating afternoon on Tyneside for Spurs as caretaker manager Cristian Stellini could only look on in disbelief at the chaos that unfolded in that opening 20 minutes.
His decision to play a flat back four – with Pedro Porro and Ivan Perisic as full-backs – instantly unravelled as Newcastle ripped apart the Spurs defence at will.
Midfielder Pape Sarr was replaced by central-defender Davinson Sanchez after just 23 minutes – but Newcastle were already 5-0 up by that point.
“It’s very embarrassing,” said goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who came off injured at half-time. “We should apologise to the fans. We didn’t show a good face and we could not match the performance of the Newcastle players.
“We were late in all aspects of the game and we completely missed the first part of the game. The second half is a different story but it’s really painful.
“It is not even about tactics, we just could not fight and we were late. I think Newcastle just had a great performance, they were very aggressive and offensive everywhere they had the ball.”
It was a truly shocking afternoon for Tottenham from the moment they allowed Joelinton to amble into the area and shoot, with Lloris unable to hold the ball and Murphy pouncing to fire in the rebound.
Fabian Schar then picked out Joelinton's run and the Brazilian glided around Lloris before slotting in.
Tottenham were then left stunned as Son Heung-min lost the ball and Murphy left Lloris standing with a powerful strike.
Swedish striker Isak got in on the act with a composed finish after being released by Joe Willock's superb pass and slotting in his second after Newcastle again scythed through a non-existent Tottenham defence.
It was the second-earliest a team had taken a five-goal lead in Premier League history after Manchester City scored five in the opening 18 minutes against Watford in 2019.
Tottenham managed to improve after the break with Harry Kane slotting in a consolation goal four minutes into the second half after brushing aside the challenge of Fabian Schar.
But Wilson scored Newcastle's sixth one minute after coming off the bench after good work from fellow substitute Miguel Almiron.
“It was my responsibility to decide how we play and we decided to do it differently because of the injuries,” said Stellini after the match.
“I have to take responsibility because once we changed system we played better, scored and showed fight. Its very difficult to understand why the first 25 minutes were so bad.”
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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COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
