Sixty-four-year-old grandmother Tayyibe Demirel is singlehandedly taking on the operators of a coal mine in a bid to save her land and village.
Behind the lush greenery of Demirel's olive groves in south-western Turkey lies a vast, grey expanse.
The rolling hillside has been eaten by the nearby mine.
On the horizon, heavy smoke billows from the power plant it feeds - the country's largest.
"I have been crying at night until dawn. Six years ago, when I was picking olives, the excavations of these mine companies had not come this close. When the farmers were shaking olive tree branches, I was worried. That was when this struggle began."
Demirel said that the area beyond her fields had once been carpeted with wildflowers.
'A hell pit'
"I love green. I am in love with green. I am in love with birdsongs, the green and the nature that God created. Once my sister was crawling in the fields that are now destroyed. Three or four years before this was demolished, she was posing for photos among tulips, daisies and poppies. This is no more. Which is better, a hell pit - as I call it - or nature? What do you think?"
Five villages have already disappeared as the mine expanded. Hers could be next.
"They say all the land around will be dug and plundered, and your olive grove will be stuck in the middle. I object. I will continue my struggle despite my sickness. I will seek my rights stemming from the laws."
Turkish authorities are pushing to more than double coal power capacity, as the country tries to wean itself off imports.
The Yatagan Power Plants said its operations respect the environment and are carried out under supervision of relevant ministries.
Campaigners say the equivalent of nearly 8,000 soccer fields has been lost to mining in the last four decades across the Mugla province.
Activists such as Deniz Gumsel say coal pollution has led to major health issues, alongside environmental damage.
Court battle to halt mine expansion
But Gumsel says there's reason to hope - thanks to the resistance of the women, like Demirel, from nearby villages.
"... the woman villagers, the female villagers of Ikizkoy, Milas are carrying out an incredible fight against this unjustice business - coal business and they were very successful to stop or slow down the progression of the mines for instance."
Last month, Demirel won a court case leading to a halt of the mine's expansion towards her village.
She still fears her six-acre property is still under threat - but won't give up without a fight.
"One day, my grandson will ask me, 'Grandmother where is your village? Where were you born?' I was not born in the city. I was born here, married here and lived here and I want to live here until the end of my life and die here. Don't take me away from my village."
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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.”
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
