Nuclear deal won’t change Iran’s US policy, says Khamenei

TEHRAN // Iran’s historic nuclear deal with world powers won’t change Tehran’s policy towards the “arrogant” United States government and a more wide-ranging agreement between the two countries is unlikely, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday in his first comments since the agreement was signed.

Mr Khamenei said in a speech broadcast live on state television that US policy in the Middle East runs counter to Tehran’s strategy and that Iran will continue to support its regional allies, including Hizbollah, Palestinian resistance groups and the Syrian government.

“Our policy toward the arrogant US government won’t change at all,” he said, addressing a large crowd in Tehran to mark the end of Ramadan.

Mr Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters, said that Iran and the US follow sharply different policies in the Middle East, making a more wide-ranging agreement unlikely.

His comments are seen as a response to president Hassan Rouhani who said that the historic deal in Vienna “can step-by-step remove bricks from the wall of mistrust” between Iran and the US, should the accord be implemented in good faith.

Iran calls its Lebanese ally Hizbollah a “resistance movement”, while the US classifies it as a terrorist group. The two countries are also at odds over Israel – one of the US’ closest allies. In his Saturday speech Mr Khamenei described the Jewish state as having a “terrorist, baby-killer government”.

“US policies in the region are 180 degrees in contrast to Iran’s policies,” Mr Khamenei said. “Whether this [deal] is approved or disapproved, we won’t give up supporting our friends in the region. The oppressed Palestinian nation, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Bahrain, the honest mujaheddin of resistance in Lebanon and Palestine will enjoy our constant support.”

Mr Khamenei said that Tehran’s direct talks with Washington were limited to the nuclear issue and that there can’t be any dialogue or deal with the US over other issues.

“We have no negotiations with America about various global and regional issues. We have no negotiations on bilateral issues,” he said.

However, the supreme leader has said in the past that the door to other issues could open should the US carry out its obligations under the deal in good faith.

* Associated Press

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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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Nuclear deal won’t change Iran’s US policy, says Khamenei

The Iranian supreme leader, who has the final say on all state matters, said that Tehran and Washington follow sharply different policies in the Middle East, making a more wide-ranging agreement unlikely.

Test

A MINECRAFT MOVIE

The specs