Shiite Muslim pilgrims walk on the outskirts of the Iraqi capital Baghdad towards the southern Iraqi city of Karbala on October 24, 2018. AFP
Shiite Muslim pilgrims walk on the outskirts of the Iraqi capital Baghdad towards the southern Iraqi city of Karbala on October 24, 2018. AFP
Shiite Muslim pilgrims walk on the outskirts of the Iraqi capital Baghdad towards the southern Iraqi city of Karbala on October 24, 2018. AFP
Shiite Muslim pilgrims walk on the outskirts of the Iraqi capital Baghdad towards the southern Iraqi city of Karbala on October 24, 2018. AFP

Bus carrying Iranian pilgrims in Iraq comes under attack


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A bus carrying Iranian Shiite pilgrims has come under attack in Iraq, according to police and medical officials.

The vehicle was travelling from Samarra to Baghdad when it was targeted about 50 kilometres north of Baghdad by gunmen, the officials said.

Of 10 passengers, seven Iranians were reportedly wounded and taken to hospital, including one woman in serious condition.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

This was not the first attack on Iranian pilgrims in Iraq. Last October, three worshippers were killed by a roadside bomb as they walked to a holy site near the north-eastern city of Khanaqin.

Hundreds of thousands of worshippers gather in the southern city of Karbala every year in Iraq for the annual pilgrimage of Arbaeen, which marks the end of a 40-day mourning period for the third Shiite Imam, Hussein.

In November 2016, nearly 77 people, most of them Shiite pilgrims from Iran and Afghanistan, were killed in a lorry bomb attack near Hilla, south of Baghdad.

Hilla is situated between Karbala and Najaf, two cities that are home to religious sites for Shiite Muslims.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, in which a lorry loaded with explosive material and fuel detonated near a petrol station.

The terror group has suffered major blows at the hands of the Iraqi army, supported by Iranian-backed Shiite militias and Kurdish armed forces, known as the Peshmerga.

Their attacks intensified on civilians in Iraq as they started to lose ground.

Iran’s involvement in Iraq’s anti-ISIS battle was carried out by the Quds forces, an external wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps led by Qassem Soleimani, who has a significant influence in Iraq.

Baghdad declared victory over ISIS in 2017, but the group has continued a campaign of kidnappings, killing and sporadic attacks since then.

ISIS and other extremist groups such as Al Qaeda view Shiites as apostates.

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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Who was Alfred Nobel?

The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.

  • In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
  • Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
  • Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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