Search on for two GCC citizens missing in Iraqi desert

Two GCC citizens have gone missing in a desert while on a hunting trip in central Iraq, locals and security officials said on Monday.

Two local hunters said the Kuwaiti and the Saudi citizens were in a desert between Anbar province, west of Baghdad, and Salaheddin province north of the capital.

The area is one of the hiding places for ISIS, they told The National.

A security official confirmed two foreigners have gone missing, but did not confirm their nationalities.

Security forces have launched a wide-scale search for the two, he said.

Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al Sabah phoned his Iraqi equivalent Fuad Hussein “to inquire about the circumstances of the disappearance of a Kuwaiti citizen”, Kuwaiti News Agency reported.

An Iraqi Foreign Ministry statement referred only to one Kuwaiti national.

It said Mr Hussein told Sheikh Salem that the Iraqi government would "determine the fate of the Kuwaiti national". The statement followed a phone call between the two ministers on Monday.

Hunters from wealthy Gulf states often make trips to Iraq's southern and western deserts in search of falcons.

In December 2015, two dozen Qataris and two Saudis were kidnapped while on a hunting party in the Samawa desert south of Iraq.

The hunters, including prominent members of the Qatari royal family, were held captive for 16 months before they were released under a complex regional deal linked to the Syrian civil war.

There was no claim of responsibility for the 2015 kidnapping, but it was widely believed to have been carried out by Iran-backed militias.

In mid-2014, ISIS overran large parts of Iraq and Syria, declaring a caliphate in the neighbouring countries.

Iraqi forces, backed by a US-led international coalition, reclaimed all the territory in Iraq held by ISIS in late 2017 after three years of fighting.

But the terrorist group's cells continue to mount hit-and-run attacks, particularly in the vast desert regions of northern and western Iraq, near the border with Syria.

Iraqi security forces often launch air strikes and small-scale military operations against ISIS in remote areas.

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Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
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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.”