DUBAI // Chris Vallender, the national coach of the Emirates Golf Federation, has challenged the UAE's amateur stars to live up to their potential in this year's Nomura Cup.
Qualification for the second biggest tournament in amateur golf, after the Eisenhower Cup, takes place at Yas Links from Thursday to Saturday where the make-up of a four-man team will be decided for the event to be held in Fiji in August.
Vallender believes it is now time for these talented players to prove themselves on foreign shores and feels that a top-10 finish is a realistic target.
A possible 23 teams will take part in the tournament that falls under the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation of which the UAE is a member.
Up until now, the all-Emirati team gets to this biannual tournament with justifiable high expectations, only to fall well short of their standards. Vallender said things have to change this year.
Vallender said: "We are not at the level of the New Zealand or Australian players just yet for example, but we should be capable of finishing in the top 10, even has high as eighth. But we have never done as well as we would have liked to in the Nomura Cup.
"We seem to finish fourth and fifth bottom every time and we are much, much better than that.
"I'm looking for a real step-up in terms of position. However, if the guys can just find a further 50 per cent of their current form, something they are more than capable of, I am confident we can do really well.
"I honestly believe they can make that big jump, from bottom four to top eight, but only if they play to their potential. It's not as if the guys just aren't good enough."
Three rounds of golf this week from an estimated field of 11 players will decide the team, which, in all likelihood, will include Khalid Yousuf, brothers Ahmed and Abdalla al Musharrekh plus one other.
All are good players on their familiar courses on which they practice all the time, but they need to adjust more quickly to conditions outside the UAE.
This is not unusual in golf. There are some American players who would not dream of leaving their own country to play abroad because of the different set-ups which can trip up even PGA tour players. But if the Emirati players are to improve, and this is their aim, then the coach says they need to take their A Game to Fiji.
"We have a lot of good players here who have found it difficult to replicate their best form away from the UAE. This is something we are going to work a lot on over the summer," Vallender said.
"My job and that of the coaching staff is to get to the bottom of the reasons why we have underperformed in the bigger tournaments and again I stress it's not because the guys aren't good enough. It would be a different story and a very different challenge if that were the case.
"We will see how these three days go and then turn our attentions on how to get them playing their normal golf on courses and in conditions they are not used to."
The 25th Nomura Cup will take place for the first time in Fiji. It is scheduled for August 16-19 at Denarau.
Over the past 24 championships Australia, Japan and Taiwan have between then won 22 titles. The other two were taken by India in 1973 and then New Zealand in 1995. The Australians are looking to make it seven wins in a row.
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INDIA SQUAD
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj and Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper)
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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The UAE squad for the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games
The jiu-jitsu men’s team: Faisal Al Ketbi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Yahia Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Obaid Al Nuaimi, Omar Al Fadhli, Zayed Al Mansoori, Saeed Al Mazroui, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Mohammed Al Qubaisi, Salem Al Suwaidi, Khalfan Belhol, Saood Al Hammadi.
Women’s team: Mouza Al Shamsi, Wadeema Al Yafei, Reem Al Hashmi, Mahra Al Hanaei, Bashayer Al Matrooshi, Hessa Thani, Salwa Al Ali.
