Isaias, downgraded from a hurricane but still a powerful tropical storm, churned close to Florida on Sunday, set to brush the state's east coast with strong winds, drenching rain and potential coastal flooding.
By 8am (1200 GMT), Tropical Storm Isaias was about 40 miles (70 kilometres) east-southeast of West Palm Beach, heading northwest with top sustained winds of 65 miles per hour (100 kph), the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said.
On its current path, Isaias will move near or along Florida's east coast during Sunday, possibly strengthening, the Miami-based NHC said. On Monday and Tuesday, its centre would move from offshore of the coast of Georgia into the southern mid-Atlantic states.
Florida's central and northern east coast could be hit by a storm surge - when a storm pushes normal tidal levels above normal - of as much as 4 feet (1.22 m), the NHC said.
Isaias was not expected to affect the return home on Sunday of two Nasa astronauts who rode to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX's new Crew Dragon.
They were heading for a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, off Florida's north-west coast, capping a two-month voyage in space that marked Nasa's first crewed mission from home soil in nine years.
Florida is used to being hit by hurricanes, but its well-honed storm responses have been partly upended by its grappling with one of the country's worst coronavirus outbreaks.
Isaias was not expected to affect the return home on Sunday of two Nasa astronauts who rode to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX's new Crew Dragon.
They were heading for a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, off Florida's north-west coast, capping a two-month voyage in space that marked Nasa's first crewed mission from home soil in nine years.
Florida is used to being hit by hurricanes, but its well-honed storm responses have been partly upended by its grappling with one of the country's worst coronavirus outbreaks.
The state has recorded more than 480,000 cases, with tens of thousands recorded in the last week alone, according to a Reuters tally.
The emergency operations centre in Miami was mostly empty on Saturday with plastic dividers set up between work stations and fans with ultraviolet lights hung around the room. Many emergency officials are instead working remotely.
Governor Ron DeSantis said on Saturday the state emergency management division was supplying shelters with enough personal protective equipment for 10,000 people.
Mr DeSantis declared a state of emergency for a dozen counties on the Atlantic coast, which makes it easier to mobilize resources. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper followed suit.
The storm has caused at least two deaths in the Dominican Republic and torn down trees, flooded streets and knocked out power for thousands of homes and businesses in Puerto Rico, according to media reports.
Isaias lashed parts of the Bahamas with what was expected to be as much as 1 foot (30 cm) of rain en route to the United States.
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.”
