Europe

Italy mourns earthquake victims

Italy marks a day of mourning with a state funeral set for the nearly 300 dead in this week's earthquake.

Italy marked a day of mourning with a state funeral set for the nearly 300 dead in this week's devastating earthquake and as many survivors remained desperate for shelter. Flags flew at half mast across the country as the Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian president Giorgio Napolitano and Roman Catholic Church leaders were expected to join mourners for the open-air service to be celebrated by the Vatican's number two, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

About 200 coffins were arrayed for today's funeral in the vast square courtyard of a police training centre. Burials will follow at L'Aquila's main cemetery on a hillside not far from the walled medieval city in central Italy, the quake's epicentre that is now a ghost town. Many families of the at least 287 people reported dead as of early today have already buried their loved ones privately. L'Aquila's Archbishop Giuseppe Molinari will co-celebrate the observance, which will include Muslim prayers for the six Muslim dead.

The earthquake struck early on Monday, turning the mountainous area around L'Aquila into a disaster zone and flattening some surrounding villages. Local churches have been badly hit and priests in the predominantly Catholic country have led masses in tent camps for survivors. Tens of thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes, many desperate after spending a fourth cold night in their cars, as strong aftershocks continued to shake the region.

Nerves have frayed over alleged delays in the rescue effort and apparent poor quality construction blamed for increasing the death toll in this earthquake-prone area of the Apennine mountains forming Italy's "spine". Prosecutors have opened an inquiry into building standards. As he toured the disaster zone yesterday, Mr Napolitano blamed "widespread irresponsibility" for the collapse of many modern buildings and called for an "examination of conscience" by those responsible.

"How is it possible that essential standards were not applied, and why were the necessary inspections not carried out?" the Italian president asked. The Italian government has estimated 1.3 billion euros (Dh6.3bn) will be needed to repair or rebuild some 10,000 buildings damaged in the quake. It has pledged to suspend taxes in the region and promised state aid for retailers and farmers whose businesses have been ruined, but critics have said the measures are not enough.

Pope Benedict XVI is expected to visit the region after Easter. *AFP

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Company name: OneOrder

Started: October 2021

Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Industry: technology, logistics

Investors: A15 and self-funded 

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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.”