Syria's new rulers are in talks with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces who have "expressed willingness" to put their weapons under state control, President Ahmad Al Shara said on Monday.
In his first televised interview since officially being named to the position last week, he said his government intended to ensure weapons are controlled and "exclusively in the hands of the state".
Syria's 13-year civil war led to the emergence of many non-state armed groups. Mr Al Shara's Hayat Tahrir Al Sham was one of them, as is rival group the SDF.
"There are ongoing negotiations with the Syrian Democratic Forces to resolve the issue of north-eastern Syria," he told Syria TV. "The SDF has expressed its willingness to place weapons under state control, but there are differences regarding some details."
The SDF, a mostly Kurdish force mainly made up of members of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), is backed by the US, which considers it a key ally in fighting ISIS. It controls a large area of Syria's north-east, and has fought other militant groups, including HTS affiliates, since former president Bashar Al Assad was deposed on December 8.
The group runs large prisons and detention camps containing more than 10,000 ISIS fighters and their families, and said it has faced attacks trying to break out members of the extremist group.
In an effort to begin rebuilding, the country's 2012 constitution has been dissolved, as well as security agencies and the army.
But HTS is struggling to contain violence. Fighting between the SDF and Turkish-backed Syrian National Army rages in the north, and a car bomb in the city of Manbij killed 20 people on Monday. It was the seventh such attack in a month.
Mr Al Shara said he hopes to bring together a national army "for all Syrians," a sentiment he also expressed for the country's future government.
"I am trying to prevent Syria from falling into a system of power-sharing based on quotas, and competence will be the main criterion for appointments, he said, adding his government would feature technocratic appointments.
How long Mr Al Shara might stay as President until elections or another process to name a government is still not clear. On naming the leader of the 11-day lightning offensive to topple the Assad regime to the presidency, Col Hassan Abdul Ghani, spokesman for the rebel umbrella group known as the Operations Room, said he would serve for a "transitional phase".
Mr Al Shara has said he plans a national conference to bring together the country's varied society.
Syria's decades of dictatorship and drawn-out civil war has left state institutions in ruins, and Mr Al Shara has called for international assistance to help get the country back on its feet. About 90 per cent of Syrians live below the poverty line.
"A broad economic team is currently being formed from inside and outside the country to analyse data and develop an economic policy that will last for 10 years," he said.
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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