AUCKLAND // New Zealand boosted their confidence for the Rugby World Cup by beating Australia 30-14 in a Tri Nations Test at Eden Park yesterday, 75 days before the cup final takes place at the same stadium.
The All Blacks and Wallabies are favoured to meet in the final as the world's top-ranked teams, and New Zealand's authoritative victory in front of 54,711 fans gave them a valuable psychological edge as they attempt to end 24 years of World Cup failures.
"It's a big year with what's coming," Richie McCaw, the All Blacks captain, said. "We wanted to make sure we put a performance together for the last time in New Zealand [in the Tri Nations] until the big thing starts."
New Zealand and Australia each opened the Tri Nations tournament with easy wins over South Africa. The three rivals are using the matches to fine-tune combinations before the World Cup starts next month.
"There was some good learning in there for us should we get to play here again later this year," Robbie Deans, the Wallabies coach, said.
New Zealand have not lost a Test to Australia at Eden Park since 1986 and extended their unbeaten run in all Tests on the ground to 22 matches, dating back to 1994.
The All Blacks led 17-0 at the break even though they only had 40 per cent of the possession and were hemmed in their own half for more than two-thirds of the opening half.
The home team's defence set the platform for the win."We dominated the game, physically," Graham Henry, the New Zealand coach, said. "Our defence was very good. We took our chances."
First-half tries by the centre, Ma'a Nonu, and the hooker, Keven Mealamu, a second-half try by the winger, Sitiveni Sivivatu, and 15 points from the fly-half, Dan Carter, allowed New Zealand to retain the Bledisloe Cup, which it has kept from Australia since 2003.
Carter lifted his points tally in Tests to 1,219, improving the international point-scoring record he took last week from England's Jonny Wilkinson. He had a perfect goal-kicking record with three conversions, two penalties and a drop goal, which was only the third of his 82-Test career.
The New Zealand defence held the Wallabies scoreless for 52 minutes until the winger Digby Ioane scored and Quade Cooper converted Australia's first try.
Rocky Elsom, the flanker, added another try two minutes from the end, also converted by Cooper.
But by then the result was beyond doubt. New Zealand's ability to take their chances in the first half, and their aggressive defence, all but settled the outcome by half time.
"I think our intent and purpose was there," McCaw said. "Pressure was the key. If you get up by a few points, we put the pressure on, and that's what it was it was all about.
"Defence wins these games, and we put a lot of work into that."
Deans said he was disappointed with the Wallabies' effort.
"Tactically, we didn't help ourselves," he said. "We left a lot of points out there tonight, but we certainly learned a lot from that.
"It's not going to get any easier come World Cup time."
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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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Raheem Sterling 35', 49'
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Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
match details
Wales v Hungary
Cardiff City Stadium, kick-off 11.45pm