Stunned Argentines were plunged into grief by the death of the country's favourite son Diego Maradona, a sublimely gifted sporting hero they saw as "the most human of Gods."
At 10:00pm Buenos Aires exploded in cheers, horns, sirens and lights for the man who famously wore the No 10, after a viral social media message called for "one last applause".
The homage resounded throughout the night in all the neighbourhoods of the Argentine capital.
At the Diego Maradona stadium, home to the Argentinos Juniors club where Maradona played as a child and made his debut as a professional player, fireworks were launched as a large crowd flooded into the field to the cry of "Maradooo, Maradooo."
Earlier, fans searching for a place to grieve gravitated towards the Obelisk landmark in downtown Buenos Aires - and, of course, the Bombonera, the steep-sided cauldron of a stadium that is home to Boca Juniors, where Maradona's genius was forged.
"I can't believe it. It's incredible. One thinks one gets through any storm, but no, everyone ends up being mortal. It feels like a bad dream," Francisco Salaverry, 28, told AFP.
"Today's a bad day. A very sad day for all Argentines," President Alberto Fernandez summed up in an interview with sports channel TyC, after declaring three days of national mourning.
All around the city, the mourning had already begun as fans stood forlornly beside banners in homage to the No 10, showing Maradona - who died aged 60 of a heart attack - in his dashing prime.
Many of the banners simply said D10S, a play on the Spanish word "dios" for "God" that includes Maradona's jersey number.
"I prefer not to speak. I'm going to the Obelisk today," said Guillermo Rodriguez, a lifelong fan who gave himself a tattoo of his idol on October 30th to celebrate Maradona's 60th birthday.
Rodriguez, 42, couldn't hold back his tears, saying he now knew he would never be able to fulfil his dream of hugging his idol.
"I'm totally shocked, grief-stricken," said Gabriel Oturi, 68. "I'll be honest with you. I thought he was a great guy who didn't have very good people around him, who was taken advantage of a lot."
"The first thing my 12-year-old son said to me was: 'Mum, Maradona died.' I couldn't believe it. And I didn't adore him particularly, but I felt sorry for him," said Marcela Rodriguez, 52.
"Few times in my life have I felt the pain that invades me today," wrote Maurico Passadore on social media, thinking about the famous World Cup tie against England in Mexico in June 1986, when Maradona scored the infamous "Hand of God" goal.
"Few times have I felt as much joy as that June 29, when we touched the sky with our hands, the same sky that today is darkened and fills us with tears."
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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.”
