France right-back Bacary Sagna dismissed suggestions that his recent move from Arsenal to Manchester City was motivated by greed, insisting it was only to do with personal ambition.
Sagna, 31, left Arsenal on a free transfer at the end of last season after seven years at the club and promptly signed for the Premier League champions on a three-year contract.
The former Auxerre player faces a stiff task to dislodge City’s Argentine international Pablo Zabaleta from the right-back berth, but he is adamant that he is not just moving to the Etihad Stadium for a bigger paycheck.
"I'm going to clear everything out, because I keep reading [claims] I left for money, I'm greedy, whatever," he told reporters after France's 0-0 draw against Ecuador in the World Cup on Wednesday.
“All I want to say is I stayed in Arsenal with the same contract since 2008. I never asked for [more] money, so people who think that it’s for money, it’s not.
“I just wanted to change and boost my career, and I think it was about time.”
Speculation about Sagna’s future began to intensify in the weeks leading up to their victory over Hull City in the FA Cup final and he admitted that it had been a challenging time.
“It was not easy, because we were still involved in the FA Cup. I had to stay focused on my team,” he said.
“It’s not easy to read things in the paper that are wrong most of the time. I stopped reading the papers. I told my family to keep me away from the speculation, and I stayed focused.”
Sagna posted a message of thanks to Arsenal’s fans on the Instagram photo-sharing website after leaving the club and he said that he would always be grateful for the time he spent in North London.
“Arsenal made me grow up as a player and as a man,” he said.
“I believe Arsenal have a great team. Arsenal have a lot of quality. I just personally wanted a boost, like I said -- start from the bottom and try to find my space.”
France’s draw with Ecuador at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana ensured they toped Group E and set up a last-16 clash with Nigeria in Brasilia on Monday.
After disciplinary problems marred France’s experiences at recent major tournaments, Sagna says that the mood in the squad under coach Didier Deschamps is now more harmonious.
“I think it was a good slap,” Sagna said of the off-pitch issues that overshadowed the team’s performances at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012.
“Back in the day we were maybe a bit too arrogant, too confident. Sometimes it’s good to start from the bottom.
“We’ve managed to work hard as a team for a few years and today we’re here. We’ve managed to make a good start to the World Cup and we want to go far.”
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Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
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.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
