Qatar and Egypt say Gaza war mediation efforts continue despite escalation

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Qatar and Egypt on Wednesday said their efforts to mediate in the Gaza war were continuing, and the two countries are working closely with the US to end the humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

“Mediation efforts in the Gaza Strip remain ongoing, consistent, and grounded in a unified vision aimed at ending the unprecedented humanitarian crisis,” the countries said in a joint statement.

Delegations from the US, Egypt and Qatar have since March been trying without success to mediate a new truce but neither Israel nor Hamas have shown any willingness to soften their conditions.

“The two countries emphasise that attempts to sow discord among brotherly nations – whether through the casting of doubt, distortion, or media escalation – will not succeed,” Qatar and Egypt said.

Since March, Israel has prevented any food, water, shelter or medical supplies from being delivered into the Palestinian territory, where the UN says most of the population is reliant on humanitarian aid to survive.

Doha and Cairo said they were closely co-ordinating with Washington “to reach an agreement that will bring an end to the humanitarian tragedy and ensure the protection of civilians”.

The statement comes days after Israel announced it was expanding its war operations in Gaza. Sources told The National on Monday that Israel is planning to push the entire population of Gaza to a “safe zone” in the south of the enclave where it will distribute so little humanitarian aid that many Palestinians might opt to leave the territory.

Hamas on Tuesday dismissed as pointless ceasefire talks with Israel, accusing it of waging a “hunger war” on Gaza as famine looms and amid the new plans. “There is no sense in engaging in talks or considering new ceasefire proposals as long as the hunger war and extermination war continue in the Gaza Strip,” senior Hamas official Basem Naim told AFP.

While Israel's new war plans have not been officially announced, they are believed to include a wider ground operation and an indefinite “conquest” of Gaza. Hamas issued a warning that the new military plans would endanger the lives of Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian group.

Several foreign governments expressed concern over Israel's latest moves. The plan is being boycotted by the UN and other international NGOs who say they will not be complicit in military action.

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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Qatar and Egypt say Gaza war mediation efforts continue despite escalation

Countries say they are working closely with US to protect civilians in enclave

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