Lebanese soldiers pull out what they say is an Israeli surveillance drone from waters near the northern port city of Tripoli, in this picture released by the Lebanese army on July 11, 2015. Lebanese army website/Handout via Reuters
Lebanese soldiers pull out what they say is an Israeli surveillance drone from waters near the northern port city of Tripoli, in this picture released by the Lebanese army on July 11, 2015. Lebanese aShow more

World

Israeli drone crashes in Lebanon for second time in three weeks

Israel frequently sends drones flying over Lebanon, but it is unusual for the pilotless aircraft to fly as far north as the port city of Tripoli where the latest crash is said to have taken place.

BEIRUT // An Israeli drone crashed in the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli on Saturday, the military said, in the second such incident in three weeks.

“At around 8.30am, a drone belonging to the Israeli enemy went down in the port of Tripoli, and the army has taken the necessary measures,” the Lebanese military said, without elaborating.

A security official said the pilotless aircraft crashed into the sea.

“Fishermen had the impression a plane was falling down towards their harbour, close to the main port of Tripoli,” said the source.

“They alerted the army which has retrieved the aircraft from eight metres under water. It turned out later that it was an Israeli drone.”

The Israeli military refused to comment on the reports.

On June 21, Israel carried out an airstrike in eastern Lebanon to destroy one of its drones that had crashed in the mountains outside the village of Saghbine.

Israel frequently sends drones and warplanes flying over Lebanon, mostly over towns and villages in the country’s south where the Lebanese militant group Hizbollah is known to operate. The city of Tripoli is unusually far north but Israeli drones are known to fly over the entire country.

Lebanon and Israel are bitter enemies who remain technically in a state of war. Israel and Hizbollah fought a month-long war in 2006 that killed 1,200 Lebanese, including hundreds of civilians, and 160 Israelis and caused heavy damage to Lebanon’s infrastructure.

* Agence France-Presse and Associated Press

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.”