Gareth Taylor set his sights on making Manchester City the best women’s team in the world after he was appointed their new manager.
Taylor replaces Nick Cushing, who became assistant manager of New York City FC in February, and said his predecessor had put him forward for the role.
The 47-year-old, who has signed a three-year deal, was manager of City’s Under-18s, winning consecutive Premier League Under-18 Cups, and feels his experience coaching players like Phil Foden equips him for his new job.
“It feels great,” Taylor said. “I am really proud and privileged and excited about the journey going forward. There is a step up and it is one I am ready for.
"We have been successful previously and we want to take it on the next step. We want to be world-leading.”
Taylor said he has been getting advice from Cushing, explaining: “I had a really good relationship with Nick. As soon as he informed he was moving to New York, he asked about the role and if I would be interested. It grew from there.
“Nick has been great. We are real good friends. We have had many conversations. I have to be careful of the time difference and not ring him in the middle of the night.”
City won five trophies under Cushing, including the Women’s Super League, and Taylor aims to take them to another level again after identifying ways they can improve.
He said: “This period has given me a great insight into getting up to speed, watching a lot of games and seeing where there are some instant gains we can make, both on and off the pitch.
“The domestic league is very important. We have won it once and the Champions League is something the club want to progress in. That will be one of the aims.”
The former Wales international helped City win back-to-back promotions as they went from the third flight to the Premier League during his time as a forward at Maine Road and played in the famous 1999 play-off final victory over Gillingham.
Alan Mahon, who had been in temporary charge since Cushing’s departure, will remain as Taylor’s assistant as City wait to discover if they will be crowned champions.
The Women’s Super League was curtailed on Monday with City top of the league but second-place Chelsea having a game in hand.
Taylor left his previous team, whose campaign also came to an abrupt end, 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League Under-18 North table and in the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup.
“The winning is a big part of it,” he added. “We were looking good in all three competitions before the lockdown came. I was fortunate to be given the Under-18 role and really enjoyed it. I have taken pride from players branching into our first team like Phil and Eric Garcia.”
Taylor has been a coach within the City Football Group since 2011 and reflected on the way the women’s team, who joined the Super League in 2013, have progressed in that time.
He said: “I have been really fortunate to see how the women's team at City has grown.
"When I was Under-16 coach at Platt Lane, they had five or six women's internationals and they were joining in our training sessions. I can only see the women's game going one way.”
Taylor has introduced himself to the City team but was given a joking warning. He said: “There were certain remarks about the full hair of head I had and I said Cush had one six years ago when he went into the job.”
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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.”
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What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
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2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Sub Regional Qualifier
Event info: The tournament in Kuwait this month is the first phase of the qualifying process for sides from Asia for the 2020 World T20 in Australia. The UAE must finish within the top three teams out of the six at the competition to advance to the Asia regional finals. Success at regional finals would mean progression to the World T20 Qualifier.
UAE’s fixtures: Fri Apr 20, UAE v Qatar; Sat Apr 21, UAE v Saudi Arabia; Mon Apr 23, UAE v Bahrain; Tue Apr 24, UAE v Maldives; Thu Apr 26, UAE v Kuwait
World T20 2020 Qualifying process:
- Sixteen teams will play at the World T20 in two years’ time.
- Australia have already qualified as hosts
- Nine places are available to the top nine ranked sides in the ICC’s T20i standings, not including Australia, on Dec 31, 2018.
- The final six teams will be decided by a 14-team World T20 Qualifier.
World T20 standings: 1 Pakistan; 2 Australia; 3 India; 4 New Zealand; 5 England; 6 South Africa; 7 West Indies; 8 Sri Lanka; 9 Afghanistan; 10 Bangladesh; 11 Scotland; 12 Zimbabwe; 13 UAE; 14 Netherlands; 15 Hong Kong; 16 Papua New Guinea; 17 Oman; 18 Ireland
MATCH INFO
English Premiership semi-finals
Saracens 57
Wasps 33
Exeter Chiefs 36
Newcastle Falcons 5
Scores
Oman 109-3 in 18.4 overs (Aqib Ilyas 45 not out, Aamir Kaleem 27) beat UAE 108-9 in 20 overs (Usman 27, Mustafa 24, Fayyaz 3-16, Bilal 3-23)
