Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations are expected to maintain a tough line on Russia over its involvement in conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, while leaving the door open to co-operation.
The ministers, meeting in Toronto for two days, spent part of the first day discussing tensions with Russia, which are straining an already bruised relationship with the West.
Sources said a final statement from the ministers was set to maintain an uncompromising line with Moscow, which the G7 has condemned for annexing Crimea and backing militants in eastern Ukraine.
“The language will be tough because of what the Russians have done until now. But it can also be interpreted as leaving the door open,” a source told Reuters.
“We are saying to them, ‘If you want to be treated as a great power, then work with us’.”
German foreign minister Heiko Maas called on Moscow to help resolve the crisis in Syria, where Russia and Iran are backing Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
“We know that the Syrian conflict, for example, can’t be solved without Russia. But it must then come up with constructive offers in return,” he told reporters on Sunday.
The G7 meeting is the first high-level gathering of the allies since the United States, France and Britain launched 105 missiles targeting chemical weapons facilities in Syria in retaliation for a suspected poison gas attack on April 7.
The Western countries blame Assad for the attack that killed dozens of people. The Syrian government and its Russian ally deny involvement or using poison gas on April 7.
The United States said its priorities also included Iran’s “malign” regional activities and ending North Korea’s nuclear programs.
The foreign ministers’ talks, due to end late on Monday, will help prepare for a G7 leaders’ summit in Canada in early June. The G7 comprises the United States, Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Japan.
The G7 last week condemned what it said was a Russian nerve agent attack in Britain. A senior official from one G7 nation said ministers were deeply worried about what the group saw as a pattern of Russia misbehaviour going back years.
Russia denies any involvement in the nerve attack on British soil in March.
Ukrainian foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin took part in some of the Toronto sessions. He held a meeting with acting US secretary of state John Sullivan on Saturday during which the United States pledged its backing for Kiev but urged it to implement economic reforms.
The meetings are not expected to discuss further punitive measures against Moscow because Britain, France, Germany and Italy are members of the 28-nation European Union, which must agree collectively on what steps to take, said two diplomats briefed on the meeting.
The issue could, however, be raised in bilateral talks among the G7 members, one official added.
The US official said the allies would also discuss developments with European partners France, Germany and Britain on updating a nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers.
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday Iran’s atomic agency was ready with “expected and unexpected” reactions if the United States pulls out of the 2015 agreement, which was signed in Vienna.
“One of the things we are concerned about now is [the deal] and where that is headed,” British foreign secretary Boris Johnson told Mr Sullivan on the sidelines of the G7 meeting.
President Donald Trump has called the 2015 Iran pact one of the worst agreements ever negotiated and will decide by May 12 whether to restore economic sanctions on Tehran, which would be a severe blow to the pact.
The ministers will also touch on North Korea’s nuclear programmes as Mr Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un prepare to meet in late May or early June. Pyongyang said on Saturday it would suspend nuclear and missile tests and scrap its nuclear test site.
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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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