Clashes erupted on Thursday between two rival Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq, leaving at least two fighters killed, an Iraqi Kurdish official said.
The exchange of fire started in the Zirgwez region in Sulaimaniyah province in Kurdistan, the security official said.
The situation, which started in the early morning, calmed following intervention from Kurdistan Peshmerga forces, he added.
The Komala of Revolutionary Toilers of Iranian Kurdistan, known as Shorshger, and the Komala of the Toilers of Kurdistan, known as Zahmatkeshan, are two divided factions for the Komala party, a leftist Kurdish opposition group from Iran.
They are among several Iranian and Turkish dissident groups who have had bases in Iraqi Kurdistan for decades and fight for more rights for Kurds.
According to Kurdish media outlets, the clashes were over Zahmatkeshan's decision to end a unification with Shorshger. They both announced that they were uniting in November.
The Kurdish Rudaw media outlet reported that Zahmatkeshan said there were unimplemented agreements and political disagreements, accusing its rival of following policies that were not in favour of the general interests of the Kurdish people.
Zahmatkeshan claims that their camp was targeted by Shorshger snipers killing two fighters, while Shorshger says that its rival started firing.
“We tried to prevent this from happening, but they [Shorshger] will commit any act and crime to compensate for their failures,” Zahmatkeshan said in a statement published by Rudaw.
The presence of the Turkish and Iranian Kurdish groups in northern Iraq has been a source of tension between Baghdad and its neighbours.
Iran and Turkey have been attacking the armed Kurdish opposition groups, accusing them of destabilising security inside their homelands.
Tehran and Ankara have repeatedly called on Baghdad and Kurdish officials to disarm and expel these groups.
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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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