The Houston Astros have appointed Tony DeFrancesco as their interim manager following the sacking of Brad Mills - but the new man in charge could not prevent another heavy defeat.
Mills was dismissed by the struggling Astros on Saturday night after a 12-4 defeat to the Arizona Diamondbacks - the latest in a series of losses the young side has suffered.
DeFrancesco, who helped Houston's Triple-A affiliate find success, took temporary charge yesterday - but the losing streak continued as the Astros went down 8-1 to give Arizona a three-game sweep.
General manager Jeff Luhnow said the side needed to shake things up, with the hunt for a new full-time manager now underway.
"Our goal is to assemble the best possible staff to fit the Houston Astros organisation," he said.
"We're going to be working diligently on the search for the remainder of the season or into the off-season, however long it takes. We have no timetable."
Luhnow knows that things won't change overnight, but he's hoping this is the start of something positive for Astros.
"What we want to accomplish for the rest of the season is to win as many games as possible and put ourselves in a position where we have the best staff and group of players as we can possibly have," Luhnow said.
Ichiro Suzuki homered twice and Hiroki Kuroda pitched eight innings of four-hit ball to lead the New York Yankees past Josh Beckett and the Boston Red Sox 4-1.
Derek Jeter had three hits and scored twice for the Yankees, who took two of three from Boston despite playing the entire series without slugger Mark Teixeira.
The AL East leaders won for the ninth time in 12 games, ending a two-year streak of futility against Beckett (5-11).
The right-hander was 5-0 in his previous seven starts against the Yankees since losing to them on Aug. 8, 2010. He kept his team in the game this time, but dropped to 0-4 in his past six outings overall. He is 1-7 in 13 starts since May 20 and has served up seven homers in his past three appearances covering 16 1-3 innings.
Pedro Alvarez hit the game-winning homer and Andrew McCutchen provided some insurance runs as the Pittsburgh Pirates prevailed in their 19th inning of their marathon clash with the St Louis Blues - it ended 6-3.
The Seattle Mariners beat the Minnesota Twins 5-1 to complete their third second-half sweep, while the San Diego Padres snapped a five-game losing run with a 7-1 success over the San Francisco Giants.
The Oakland Athletics maintained their hopes of extending their season with a fourth successive win - 4-0 over the Cleveland Indians, while a four run second inning put the Tampa Bay Rays on the way to an 8-3 victory over the LA Angels.
Kyle Kendrick produced eight scoreless frames in Milwaukee, allowing just three hits and tying a career high with seven strikeouts, as the Philadelphia Phillies downed the Brewers 8-0.
The Atlanta Braves were also blanked, 5-0 by the LA Dodgers, while the injury-hit Colorado Rockies overcame the Miami Marlins 3-2,
The Kansas City Royals scored a fifth win in six games, 5-2 against the Chicago White Sox, to complete a sweep of the AL Central leaders.
The Baltimore Orioles saw off the Detroit Tigers 7-5, while the Washington Nationals sunk the New York Mets 5-2 in a contest which was delayed for two and a half hours by rain.
Elsewhere, the Texas Rangers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 11-2 and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 5-4
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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How to tell if your child is being bullied at school
Sudden change in behaviour or displays higher levels of stress or anxiety
Shows signs of depression or isolation
Ability to sleep well diminishes
Academic performance begins to deteriorate
Changes in eating habits
Struggles to concentrate
Refuses to go to school
Behaviour changes and is aggressive towards siblings
Begins to use language they do not normally use
