Portugal's government declared a day of national mourning on Thursday after at least 16 people died and 21 were injured when a car on Lisbon's Gloria funicular railway derailed and crashed.
Eleven foreigners were among the injured in Wednesday's accident at the popular tourist spot: two Germans, two Spaniards and nationals from France, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, South Korea, Morocco and Cape Verde. Foreign nationals were also among the dead.
“It's a tragic day for our city … Lisbon is in mourning, it is a tragic, tragic incident,” said Carlos Moedas, Mayor of the Portuguese capital.
The number of fatalities increased to 16 after one person died overnight, Margarida Castro Martins, head of Lisbon’s Civil Protection Agency, said on Thursday, after an initial update said the death toll had risen to 17.
Footage from the site showed the destroyed yellow tram-like funicular vehicle. Emergency workers were pulling people from the wreckage.
The service carries people up and down a steep hillside and is one of the city's symbols, as well as being popular with tourists.
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa offered condolences to the families of the dead and expressed hope that authorities would soon establish the cause of the crash.
Police investigators were inspecting the site and the prosecutor general's office said it would open a formal investigation, as is customary in public transport accidents.
The line, which opened in 1885, connects Lisbon's downtown area near the Restauradores Square with the Bairro Alto (Upper Quarter), famous for its vibrant nightlife.
It is one of three funicular lines operated by the municipal public transport company Carris and is used by tourists and residents.
Carris said in a statement that “all maintenance protocols have been carried out”, including monthly and weekly maintenance programmes and daily inspections.
The Gloria line carries about three million people a year, according to the town hall. Its two cars, each capable of about 40 people, are attached to opposite ends of a cable with traction provided by electric motors on the cars.
The car at the bottom of the line was apparently undamaged, but video from bystanders broadcast by CNN Portugal showed it jolting violently when the other one derailed, several passengers jumping out of its windows and people shouting.
Portugal, and Lisbon in particular, has experienced a tourism boom in the past decade, with visitors cramming the popular downtown area in the summer.
A representative of Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it was in contact with the local authorities and stood by “to provide consular assistance if there are any affected British nationals”.
Britain is the largest source of tourism to Portugal, followed by Germany, Spain and the US. The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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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