Five rescuers and an elderly man were killed in northern Philippines after Typhoon Noru caused floods and power cuts and displaced thousands.
The most powerful typhoon to hit the country this year forced officials to suspend classes and government work in the capital Manila and outlying provinces. This was taken as a precaution, despite the morning skies being sunny.
The typhoon hit the coast in Burdeos town, on the north-eastern Polillo islands in Quezon province, before dusk on Sunday. It then weakened as it moved across the main Luzon region, where thousands of people were moved to emergency shelters — some forcibly — officials said.
Five rescuers who were using a boat to help residents trapped in floodwaters were hit by a collapsed wall then apparently drowned, said governor Daniel Fernando of Bulacan province, north of Manila.
“They were living heroes who were helping save the lives of our countrymen amid this calamity,” Mr Fernando told DZMM radio network. “This is really very sad.”
An elderly man died after he was hit by a landslide in Burdeos, said Garner Jimenez from the local civil defence office.
On Polillo Island, officials said a man was injured after falling off the roof of his house.
More than 17,000 people were moved to emergency shelters from high-risk communities prone to tidal surges, flooding and landslides in Quezon alone, officials said.
More than 3,000 people were evacuated to safety in Metropolitan Manila, which was lashed by fierce wind and rain overnight.
The northern provinces of Aurora and Nueva Ecija, which were hit by the typhoon, remained without power on Monday.
Repair crews were trying to restore electricity, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla told President Ferdinand Marcos Jr in a televised meeting he called to assess damages and co-ordinate the disaster response.
Mr Marcos Jr praised officials for evacuating thousands of people to safety as a precaution before the typhoon hit. This prevented large numbers of casualties, despite Noru’s potentially disastrous force.
The typhoon underwent an “explosive intensification” over the open Pacific Ocean before it hit the Philippines, Vicente Malano, who heads the country’s weather agency, told AP on Sunday.
From sustained winds of 85 kilometres per hour on Saturday, Noru was a super typhoon only 24 hours later with sustained winds of 195 kph and gusts of up to 240 kph at its peak late Sunday.
By Monday morning, Noru had sustained winds of 140 kph and gusts of 170 kph and was moving westward in the South China Sea at 30 kph, the weather agency reported.
About 20 storms and typhoons batter the Philippines each year. The archipelago also lies in the “Pacific Ring of Fire”, a region along most of the Pacific Ocean rim where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. These make the South-East Asian nation one of the world’s most disaster-prone.
In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest recorded tropical cyclones in the world, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing. It flattened entire villages, swept ships inland and displaced more than five million people in the central Philippines — well to the south of Noru’s path.
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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.”
Expert input
If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?
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“If I had all the money, I would approach Nike and ask them to do my own Air Force 1, that’s one of my dreams.” Yaseen Benchouche
“There’s nothing out there yet that I’d pay an insane amount for, but I’d love to create my own shoe with Tinker Hatfield and Jordan.” Joshua Cox
“I think I’d buy a defunct footwear brand; I’d like the challenge of reinterpreting a brand’s history and changing options.” Kris Balerite
“I’d stir up a creative collaboration with designers Martin Margiela of the mixed patchwork sneakers, and Yohji Yamamoto.” Hussain Moloobhoy
“If I had all the money in the world, I’d live somewhere where I’d never have to wear shoes again.” Raj Malhotra
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