Hector Cuper remains confident in Al Wasl

DUBAI // Hector Cuper, the Al Wasl manager, vowed to lead the club out of its malaise, beginning with Friday's Arabian Gulf League encounter with Ajman.

The Argentine has endured a troublesome start to his Wasl reign, guiding his side to three victories in 11 top-flight matches since replacing Laurent Banide in November.

Struggles on the pitch have been mirrored by instability off it, including when the Wasl board resigned en masse, citing a failure to deliver results worthy of a club of its stature. Wasl currently sit 10th in the standings.

Cuper, a vastly experienced coach having managed with distinction clubs in Spain’s Primera Liga and Italy’s Serie A, acknowledges the predicament facing him, although he remains certain he can steer the club toward success. Cuper is little more than two months into an 18-month contract at the Zabeel Stadium, and he remodelled his squad significantly in the winter transfer window. Of the four foreign players to begin the season in Wasl’s first team, only Mariano Donda was retained. Edson Puch, Emmanuel Culio and Ricardo Oliveira are the new expatriates.

However, the transition has been slow, prompting Cuper last week to publicly vent his frustrations with recent performances, which was interpreted as the surfacing of self-doubt regarding his Wasl tenure.

Yesterday, before Wasl’s home game with Ajman, he tried to clarify his comments.

“I love the work that I am doing, and I am confident I can change the image of the team,” Cuper said. “If I thought I could not change it, then I am not worthy of this position.

“I did not threaten to leave at all. We have to take responsibility and we must continue to improve the team’s form. I’m happy to work at this club and everyone here is co-operating with us greatly.”

Cuper will be keen to repay that faith with a much-needed victory against an Ajman side buoyed by last week’s surprise win against title-chasing Al Jazira.

The three points lifted the reigning League Cup holders to 12th in the table, and another triumph would close the gap on Wasl to five points. Wasl, though, have shown signs of improvement in their past two matches, defeating Al Shaab 1-0 before ruing the concession of a late penalty that gifted Al Shabab a 1-0 victory.

“During the last two matches, the team has appeared more balanced than in the past,” Cuper said. “This is something positive. We have improved defensively, and this is what we had sought most during this recent period.

“Ajman have talented and distinguished foreign players, and their coach [Abdulwahab Abdulqadir] is very good tactically, so we have to remain focused on the pitch.”

jmcauley@thenational.ae

OTHER GAMES

Sharjah v Dubai

Paulo Bonamigo, the Sharjah coach, says his side must not take for granted victory against Dubai club on Friday, despite the visitors being rooted to the bottom of the league.

Sharjah needed two injury-time goals to seal the win when the two teams met in October, and Bonamigo warned his players against any complacency this evening.

“It’s important to get three points, but it will not be easy,” he said. “If we underestimate our rival, it will lead us to the same scenario as the first-round match. We’ve spent a good week in training and the players are ready to deliver what is expected from them.”

Al Shabab v Al Shaab

The Al Shabab club board urged its side to build on last week's restorative victory against Al Wasl when they host relegation-threatened Al Shaab.

Shabab came into Round 18 having returned to second place in the standings, but realise they must register another win to hang onto the coattails of Al Ahli, the league leaders.

“We’re entering a delicate stage in the league, since all games are difficult for every team,” said Abdullah Al Suwaidi, a director at Shabab. “Shaab want to enhance their chances of escaping relegation, while we are determined to maintain our position in the title race.”

The biog

Nickname: Mama Nadia to children, staff and parents

Education: Bachelors degree in English Literature with Social work from UAE University

As a child: Kept sweets on the window sill for workers, set aside money to pay for education of needy families

Holidays: Spends most of her days off at Senses often with her family who describe the centre as part of their life too

The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

Sreesanth's India bowling career

Tests 27, Wickets 87, Average 37.59, Best 5-40

ODIs 53, Wickets 75, Average 33.44, Best 6-55

T20Is 10, Wickets 7, Average 41.14, Best 2-12

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.”