Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis has no doubt Virat Kohli will soon return to form after the batsman's struggles continued with another low score in the Indian Premier League defeat to Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday.
Chasing 145 for victory, Bangalore folded for 115 for a fourth defeat in their ninth match of the annual Twenty20 tournament. Rajasthan, who posted 144-8 after being put in to bat first, registered their sixth win from eight matches to climb to the top of the IPL table.
The 33-year-old Kohli, who has scored over 23,500 runs for India in international cricket, made nine on Tuesday, taking his tally to 128 runs from nine matches this season.
Out on the first delivery he faced in his last two outings, Kohli was asked to move up the order from his usual No 3 spot to open the innings against Rajasthan but the move did not bear fruit.
"We discussed after the previous match, thinking of ways of trying to get the best out of Virat," former South Africa captain du Plessis said at the presentation.
"Great players go through things like this and great characters have to find a way to get through it. Our thinking was to get him into the game straight away so he doesn't sit on the side and almost think too much about the game.
"He's a fantastic cricketer. We still back him that he will turn it around and it's just the case of getting a good start and feeling one or two balls hit the middle of the bat. It's a game of confidence."
Kohli, who has stepped down as India and Bangalore captain in recent months, was expected to dominate the run-scoring charts without the burden of leadership on his shoulders.
His repeated failures have prompted some pundits to suggest he needs a break from the game but Bangalore coach Sanjay Bangar said Kohli had "seen these highs and lows plenty of times".
"He has the spirit and he is a fighter," Bangar told reporters. "He will emerge stronger and win us games in upcoming matches."
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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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