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British Foreign Secretary David Cameron arrived in Israel on Wednesday as regional tension threatens to spill over, with Iran warning of a “harsh response” to any Israeli attack on its territory.
Lord Cameron, visiting Israel alongside German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, is expected to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has been overshadowed by growing concerns of an all-out war, as Israel threatens to retaliate against Iran's drone and missile attack at the weekend.
“It's clear the Israelis are making a decision to act,” Lord Cameron told reporters in Jerusalem.
“We hope they do so in a way that does as little to escalate this as possible.”
Britain wanted to see co-ordinated sanctions against Iran, he said, hours after Washington confirmed it would impose new sanctions against Tehran in the coming days.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he held talks with Lord Cameron and Ms Baerbock on Wednesday, and called on the world to act “decisively and defiantly” against Iran.
Tehran “is seeking to undermine the stability of the whole region”, Mr Herzog's office said.
Iran launched a barrage of more than 300 missiles and drones overnight on Saturday, in its first direct attack on Israel. Tehran said this was in response to the killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders in an Israeli air strike on its Damascus embassy compound on April 1.
Israel said 99 per cent of the projectiles were intercepted, but Iran has said that any future attack would be stronger and much harder to repel.
Iranian leaders ramped up their warnings against Israeli retaliation in speeches on Wednesday to mark Army Day, saying Israel would face a “terrible confrontation” in the event of an attack on Iran.
“If the smallest aggression is made by the Zionist regime on our land, they will be dealt with fiercely and severely,” state outlet IRNA quoted President Ebrahim Raisi as saying.
The weekend attack was deliberately small, Mr Raisi added, claiming that “nothing would be left” of Israel if Iran decided to launch a full-scale attack.
Iranian air force chief Brig Gen Hamid Vahedi said Israel would face an “irreparable response” if it made the “mistake” of striking back.
“The IRGC's action against Israel was a punitive action, and if this regime wants to make mischief, then it will face a harsh response and a major attack,” the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted him as saying.
Naval Commander Shahram Irani said Iran’s navy is escorting Iranian commercial ships to the Red Sea.
“The navy is carrying out a mission to escort Iranian commercial ships to the Red Sea and our Jamaran frigate is present in the Gulf of Aden in this view,” Mr Irani was quoted as saying by Tasnim.
Israel's war cabinet is set to meet again on Wednesday to discuss its response to the Iranian attack.
Iran is bracing for a variety of scenarios. The leadership expects possible Israeli strikes on military sites linked to the weekend attack, sources told The National on Tuesday. Iran's proxy groups may also attack Israel if the strikes are “more aggressive than expected”, they said.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that IRGC bases in Syria – a frequent target of Israeli attacks – have been evacuated in anticipation of assaults.
Sources in Damascus sources told the outlet that “emergency measures” have been put in place at Iranian military installations in Syria, although some IRGC members remain behind to guard weapons stores.
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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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