Asia

Swine flu cases grow

Swine flu infections throughout Asia-Pacific are rising with Australia recording the highest tally of cases in the region.

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Swine flu infections in the Asia-Pacific region mounted today, a day after a 26-year-old Australian man with the virus died although authorities say it may have been other serious ailments that killed him. The Aboriginal man who died on Friday could be the first person in the region to be claimed by swine flu, which has swept rapidly across nations here but without fatal impact. Bangladesh, Laos and Papua New Guinea all confirmed their first cases on Friday, while infections continued to rise sharply in Thailand. Today, China confirmed 32 more infections, bringing its tally to 329 cases, and Malaysia confirmed seven more, bringing its total to 42.

The World Health Organisation declared swine flu a pandemic last week. As of Friday, it said more than 44,000 cases had been reported worldwide, with 180 deaths, mostly in Mexico and the United States. The Australian who died in a hospital in Adelaide came from a remote desert community. Experts say his case further highlights the gap in health standards between the impoverished indigenous Aborigines and other Australians.

The man, who was not named, had been in hospital with multiple serious ailments, which authorities have declined to identify. That has raised doubts about whether swine flu was the cause of death. He was diagnosed with the virus on Thursday. Australia has recorded the highest tally of swine flu cases in the region, reaching 2,330 by Friday. The federal health minister Nicola Roxon said swine flu remained mild in Australia and that most people infected made rapid and full recoveries.

Bangladesh on Friday confirmed its first case: a 19-year-old man who had recently returned from the US the health ministry said in a statement. A 27-year-old Australian visitor has been confirmed as the first case of the virus in Laos, the official Khaosan Pathet Lao agency reported. Thailand's Public Health Ministry confirmed 71 new cases on Friday, bringing the country's total to 589, most of them in Bangkok.

Elsewhere in the region, Papua New Guinea became the second South Pacific islands nation to report a single confirmed case of the infection, after Samoa confirmed its first case Tuesday. India's Health Ministry late Friday confirmed six new cases, bringing the country's total to 50. So far 16 people have been discharged from government hospitals after being treated for the illness, it said. *AP

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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.”

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