It is not unusual for strange strains to be making the rounds during the colder months, of course.
The symptoms are sniffles, elevated temperatures, and occasional aches and pains.
Rarely, if ever, has a winter contagion like this struck the top ranks of professional tennis. Talk about a fever pitch.
Like never before, top players are calling prominent game doctors, en masse.
Two years after Andy Murray overhauled his career by hiring former great Ivan Lendl as his coach – he won an Olympic gold and two grand slam titles since – his associates have fallen into lock step behind him, especially this month.
Over the past few weeks, top-10 fixtures Novak Djokovic and Richard Gasquet have hired players who won multiple slam titles, and late on Friday night, the greatest player in the game, Roger Federer, followed suit.
Federer, a 17-time grand slam winner, hired former Swedish great Stefan Edberg, a six-time slam winner, for at least the next 10 weeks. Edberg has been working with Federer in Dubai in the off-season before the gig was made official.
Early in the week, when the world No 1 was reeling off the names of the newest former stars to sign on as coaches, he mentioned Edberg and Federer, though at that point, it had not been made official, it was noted.
“That is what I heard,” Nadal said, shrugging.
Turns out he was right. Incredibly, of the players in the current world top nine, five are using former stars as their mentors, and four of them were added at some point in 2013.
You could almost see Murray smirking when he sent out a tweet when the Federer news broke overnight that read, “How great is it to have all these legends of the game coaching?! Absolutely loving it. #my coach is better than yours na na na na na.”
He might be right, but not by much. The coach Djokovic hired this month, former German sensation Boris Becker, has six grand slam titles, the same as Edberg. One wag on Twitter cracked that tennis is beginning to like That ‘80s Show.
That is hardly the end of it, either. Not long after Gasquet hired Sergi Brugera, a two-time grand slam winner, last month, Michael Chang signed on to work with Kei Nishikori. Magnus Norman, who made it to world No 2, started working with world No 8 Stanislas Wawrinka earlier in the year. Marin Cilic, No 37 in the world, is coached by former No 2 Goran Ivanisevic.
That is not a trend, that is a tsunami.
Andy Murray, trailblazer? Djokovic suggested otherwise, but the Scotsman’s play over the last two years has clearly been an inspiration in some fashion.
“Look, for Andy, Ivan Lendl did a great job,” Djokovic said before the Federer decision was announced. “Since Ivan came on board he won two grand slams and an Olympic gold medal. From my point of view, it affected him in a very positive way, of course.
“But my decision to start working with Boris hasn’t been inspired by the fact that Ivan is working with him.”
Federer, in Brisbane this week for the ATP season opener, said he discussed with his team whether they needed to add a new face in the off-season, “and if so, who?”
Edberg was his childhood hero, and they offered him the gig.
Then they waited.
“He actually needed some time to think about it,” Federer said in Australia, a smile crossing his face.
Nadal, who not only is still coached by the same guy, but by a family member, uncle Toni Nadal, said the addition of the old-school star power cannot possibly hurt in at least one regard.
“It adds charisma to the tour,” Nadal said.
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Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
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- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
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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.”
