Dh7,000 for each freed Palestinian

GAZA // Hamas will give Dh7,340 to each detainee released by Israel to Gaza under a landmark prisoner exchange deal.

"It has been decided that to honour the freed prisoners, each of them will be given US$2,000," said a statement from the office of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas government.

Hundreds of freed Palestinians tasted their first full day of freedom yesterday, with both sides mulling their gains - and losses - after the prisoner swap with the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Tuesday marked the successful completion of the first stage of a prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel in which 477 Palestinians were released and Mr Shalit went home after five years in Hamas captivity.

The scenes of tearful jubilation were played out hundreds of times over in the Palestinian Territories as families were reunited with their loved ones.

Among the Palestinians freed, 15 of them arrived in Doha yesterday.

The released prisoners landed in the Qatari capital on a chartered plane at 3am and were greeted by the deputy prime minister, Ahmad Abdullah Mahmoud. The prisoners were taken to a hotel and were expected to undergo medical check-ups later.

Israel will eventually have handed over 1,027 prisoners in exchange for Mr Shalit - more than ever before. "Yesterday was one of those rare days in which happiness, the exact same happiness, reigned in both Gaza and Galilee," wrote the Haaretz newspaper columnist Gideon Levy.

Many Israeli commentators yesterday discussed Tuesday's unusual sight of green Hamas flags flying in the West Bank.

They also noted the huge boost the deal had given to the Islamist movement - and the trouble it could spell for Israel.

"The day after is a day for deep and rational soul-searching. And there is no time. The kidnapping of the next Israeli is not a question of if, it is a question of when," wrote Yediot Aharonot's military commentator, Alex Fishman.

Meanwhile, in Cairo, an Egyptian journalist who was accused by an Israeli official of violating "all the basic ethical rules of journalism" by interviewing Mr Shalit just moments after he was released denied she pressured him into doing the interview.

Shahira Amin - celebrated in Egypt for quitting her job as a state television reporter during the uprising that led to the removal of the president, Hosni Mubarak, in February - conducted Tuesday's interview for the state-owned Nile Television.

Ms Amin told an Egyptian chat show yesterday that she had asked Mr Shalit to do the interview and he consented.

The discussion was conducted on the no-man's-land in the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, she said.

Mr Shalit was accompanied by Hamas members and Egyptian intelligence agents.

"He was tired. I sat with him at first for two minutes and said, 'I understand you want to see your parents as soon as possible and don't want to give interviews, but the world wants to know how you are doing so don't deprive us of some words.'

"If he refused, we wouldn't have pressured him." The Egyptian Gazette, a government-owned English daily, reported on its website yesterday that the head of Egypt's state television had also said that no one had forced Mr Shalit to do the interview with Ms Amin after his release.

* Agence France-Presse

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DUBAI WORLD CUP RACE CARD

6.30pm Meydan Classic Trial US$100,000 (Turf) 1,400m

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10pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m

The National selections

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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.”