Israeli strike targets alleged Hamas official in Lebanon

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At least two people are believed to have been killed in an Israeli drone strike on south Lebanon on Saturday that allegedly targeted - and injured - a senior Hamas member.

The attack targeted a car in the town of Jadra and was the second deepest attack into Lebanese territory since the eruption of hostilities on Lebanon's border on October 8. Jadra is about 60 kilometres north of the Israel-Lebanon frontier. One of those killed was a member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Israeli media reported the target to be Basel Saleh, who is said to recruit and manage Hamas operatives including in the occupied West Bank. His exact condition remains unclear.

The strike happened far from the border area where daily clashes between Hezbollah and Israel have been taking place.

In January, Hamas deputy leader Saleh Al Arouri was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut, the deepest attack into Lebanese territory since October 8.

Hezbollah, supported by Iran and its Lebanon-based allies, says it is carrying out attacks on Israel to alleviate the pressure on Hamas in Gaza.

The attack happened as Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian visited Beirut for talks with senior figures, including Prime Minister Najib Mikati, parliament speaker Nabih Berri, and Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah.

Mr Amirabdollahian also met senior officials of various Palestinian armed factions, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad chief Ziyad Nakhaleh.

"Iran and Lebanon confirm that war is not the solution, and that we absolutely never sought to expand it," Mr Amirabdollahian said after meeting his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib.

Tehran is a strong supporter of Lebanese armed group and political party Hezbollah, which was created in the 1980s with the help of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Since October 8 more than 200 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon, the vast majority of them Hezbollah fighters.

Separately, Hezbollah announced it had seized an Israeli Skylark drone over Lebanese air space “in good condition”.

The Skylark is a small, unmanned aerial vehicle typically used for surveillance and produced by Israel-based weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems.

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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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