Ali Mabkhout was on target in Al Jazira's 4-0 win over Emirates on Saturday, December 19, with a superb chip over the goalkeeper. Al Ittihad
Ali Mabkhout was on target in Al Jazira's 4-0 win over Emirates on Saturday, December 19, with a superb chip over the goalkeeper. Al Ittihad

Former PSV coach Fred Rutten emerges as candidate for Al Jazira position



Fred Rutten, the former PSV Eindhoven coach, is the leading candidate to become the next Al Jazira manager.

The 53-year-old Dutchman heads a shortlist of potential successors to Abel Braga, who parted company with the club earlier this month following a run of three victories from 16 matches in charge.

In his second spell at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Braga struggled to arrest Jazira’s defensive problems and left with the team languishing 11th in the Arabian Gulf League.

Ali Al Junaibi, Jazira's Under 21 coach, has been placed in temporary charge and on Saturday led the senior side to a 4-0 win against Emirates club.

WATCH: Ali Makbhout scores one of the most wonderfully tricky goals of the year – video

Jazira recently appointed Gianluca Nani as sporting director, with the former West Ham United and Watford official helping the club identify a permanent replacement to Braga.

The club’s board are therefore considering Rutten, whose last employment was at Feyenoord, where he was dismissed in May after one season at the Dutch club. They had finished fourth in the Eredivisie.

Previous to that, Rutten managed Vitesse during the 2012/13 season, again guiding the club to fourth.

His longest spell in management came at PSV, where he stayed between 2009 and 2012, helping the 22-time Dutch champions to successive third-placed finishes before he was let go in April 2012. At the time, PSV were fourth in the table.

Rutten, a defender who spent his entire career at FC Twente, began his coaching career with the Enschede side in 1999 – he spent a brief stint in 1995 as interim manager – before becoming assistant coach at PSV in 2002. In 2006, he returned to Twente and then spent a season in charge of Schalke from 2008, leading the German side to eighth in the Bundesliga.

Piet Hamberg, a fellow Dutchman, was in the Jazira dugout for the victory against Emirates in what is believed to be his new role as assistant coach. ​

jmcauley@thenational.ae

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Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction

Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.

Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.

Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.

Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.

Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.

What are the guidelines?

Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.

Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.

Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.

Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.

Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.

Source: American Paediatric Association
Analysis

Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more

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Europe’s rearming plan
  • Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
  • Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
  • Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
  • Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
  • Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital

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.”

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia