Manhunt continues for Toronto mall shooter

A gunman opened fire yesterday in a busy food court at one of Canada's best known shopping malls, Toronto's Eaton's Centre, killing a 25-year-old man and leaving seven others injured, police said.

"The nature of the wounds indicate this individual was targeted," said Toronto police chief Bill Blair. "The others were innocent bystanders."

The police chief urged all possible witnesses to come forward and assist with the investigation. He declined to comment on the possible motives of the crime.

"This was outrageous," Blair stressed. "A lot of innocent people were hurt and a lot of innocent people were put at risk."

Hundreds of people were in the area at the time of the incident around 6:30 pm local time (2220 GMT).

The area around the mall, Toronto's largest, was cordoned off by police shortly after the shooting.

Police have a description of the suspect from eyewitnesses, Blair said, adding that the manhunt for the killer was on.

The wounded, some of whom were in serious condition, were being treated at local hospitals. They included a 13-year-old boy. Also hurt was a pregnant woman, who escaped the bullets but was knocked down in the ensuing stampede.

In a statement, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty expressed his condolences to the families and friends of everyone who had suffered as a result of the shooting at the Eaton Centre.

"I also want to thank all the first responders who arrived on the scene and tended to the injured -- and the police who are working hard to bring the shooter to justice," the premier said.

"I know I speak for all Ontarians when I say that while we are saddened and shocked by today's events, we will respond as we always have -- with strength, determination and a desire to work together, and work even harder, to build communities that are safe, secure and free of gun violence."

According to The Toronto Globe and Mail, the scene of the crime was also visited by Toronto Mayor Rob Ford who extended his condolences to the families of the victims.

"This incident tonight is absolutely terrible, and I'm here to offer my support to the police," Ford was quoted by the paper as saying.

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Streaming on: MBC Shahid

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Pearls on a Branch: Oral Tales
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Key findings

Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.

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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Company Profile

Company name: Namara
Started: June 2022
Founder: Mohammed Alnamara
Based: Dubai
Sector: Microfinance
Current number of staff: 16
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Family offices