Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz nominates Maj Gen Herzi Halevi as next army chief

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz has nominated Maj Gen Herzi Halevi as the country's next army chief.

Maj Gen Halevi currently serves as deputy to outgoing Chief of General Staff Lt Gen Aviv Kohavi.

The nomination is to be discussed by an advisory committee in the coming days before the government gives its approval, Mr Gantz's office said on Sunday.

Maj Gen Halevi is due to take up his new position in February next year, the Defence Ministry told AFP, after Lt Gen Kohavi's term ends.

Mr Gantz called Maj Gen Halevi "the most suitable officer" for the position owing to his "extensive operational experience in a variety of theatres of operation" and his "commanding abilities and attitude to various military issues".

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz has called Maj Gen Herzi Halevi 'the most suitable officer' to become the country's next army chief. AP

Prime Minister Yair Lapid welcomed the decision to nominate Maj Gen Halevi, whom he called "a worthy and natural choice".

"I am certain that he will lead the IDF [Israeli Defence Force] to many significant achievements," Mr Lapid said.

Born in Jerusalem in 1967 to a religious family, Maj Gen Halevi was enlisted in 1985 as a paratrooper and advanced in various command positions before joining the elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit in 1993, the Israeli army's website said.

He served as commander of the unit for three years from 2001 and then continued to climb the ranks, becoming head of military intelligence in 2014 and head of the southern command in 2018, the army said.

Maj Gen Halevi has degrees in philosophy and business management from the Hebrew University and a master's degree in resource management from National Defence University in Washington, the army website said.

Maj Gen Halevi is married with four children and lives in Kfar Haoranim, a community that is partially a settlement in the occupied West Bank.

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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.”