The third best team in Serie A left out their most expensive player for the trip to Pescara.
The maverick Mauro Zarate had been excluded, said his head coach Vladimir Petkovic, "for technical reasons".
Those were easily interpreted as having some connection with Zarate's negative body language during the Europa League win over the Slovenian side Maribor three days earlier. In his six minutes as a substitute Zarate had looked petulantly indifferent.
Petkovic has challenged the Argentine to fight his way back into the squad, although with Lazio on a run of three successive wins, and sitting just four points behind the joint league leaders, Juventus and Napoli, it will be hard.
"He can still be useful for us," said the Bosnian, "but it's up to him."
Zarate needed only listen to the words of various colleagues after Sunday's 3-0 win to realise he must sing from an unfamiliar song sheet if he is to enjoy the current ride.
Miroslav Klose, the author of his fourth and fifth goals in the league, talked of "sacrifice and a team where everybody runs for each other".
The club president, Claudio Lotito, praised the squad's unity, and "will to win" and backed Petkovic's decision to drop Zarate, in whom Lazio invested €20 million (Dh95m) three years ago, the biggest single deal of Lotito's presidency.
By contrast, the entire value, in terms of what Lazio paid in transfer fees, of the eleven who took the field in Pescara, was just over €42m, or the same price as one defender, Thiago Silva, cost Paris Saint-Germain from AC Milan in July.
The secret of this frugally assembled Lazio's bright start? Partly it is Petkovic, who really was a secret when he was appointed in the summer to succeed Edy Reja.
"Vladimir who?" asked unimpressed fans of the 49 year old who had a modest playing record in Yugoslav football behind him and had coached only in Switzerland and Turkey.
Now newspapers refer to "PetkoLazio". It is a term of praise.
The Bosnian is maximising the potential of the gifted Hernanes, who scored again - his fourth of the Serie A campaign - against Pescara and who is combining fruitfully with Klose.
Another upping his game is the much-travelled Antonio Candreva, recalled after a three-year international absence to the Italy squad.
"The coach has been a breath of fresh air, and given me consistency," said the former Juventus, Parma and Livorno midfielder, who is on loan from Udinese.
Vlad the Obscure has become Vlad the Inspired.
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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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