ABU DHABI // Expatriates have spoken of their fears for friends and family after one of the strongest typhoons on record battered the Philippines, killing more than 1,200 people.
Relief efforts were already under way in the UAE to help victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan, which hit the island nation yesterday.
Gusts of up to 315kph swept across the country, with the storm slamming into the southern tip of Samar Island before raging on to Leyte Island.
Alan Bacason, 49, a Filipino expatriate in Dubai, kept a 24-hour vigil beside his television, watching for news updates about the storm, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Yolanda.
He had been unable to contact his mother, daughter Marielle, 24, former wife or mother-in-law, who were in a hotel in Tacloban city on Leyte island when the storm struck.
“I do not know if the hotel has been affected by the typhoon,” said Mr Bacason, a father of three who works for Dubai Maritime City Authority. “I am very, very worried. I just want to speak to them but I can’t. I do not know if anything has happened to them.
“We are monitoring every news channel watching for any update. We cannot sleep. All we can do is wait and hope.”
The typhoon has affected more than four million people in 36 provinces, the Philippines government said.
It knocked out power and communications across a number of islands, flattened houses and triggered landslides and floods.
Mr Bacason said the typhoon was the worst in living memory.
“Everybody knows this is the worst that has hit our country as far as I can remember,” he said. “I don’t think anyone expected it to be as bad as this.”
Eva Dicenpe, 50, a driving instructor in Abu Dhabi, has been unable to contact her mother and sister.
“I am very, very worried,” she said. “There are so many calamities in my home county – earthquakes, storms and now this.
“My family are there and I do not know what has happened to them or if they have been affected in any way. I just don’t know what to do.”
Frank Cimafranca, the Philippine consul general in Dubai, said fundraising efforts were under way.
“Many of the Filipino community here, they are thinking of ways to help,” he said. “We will be supporting them in any way we can.
Last month, a charity dinner was held in Dubai to raise money for the victims of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck the Philippines on October 15, leaving 213 people dead and more than 700 injured.
“Unfortunately, here we are again,” Mr Cimafranca said. “Hopefully we will be able to get support not only from Filipinos here but also other people here, and the rest of the world to help those affected by a storm of such strength.”
He, too, could not recall as strong a storm hitting the Philippines.
He urged his compatriots to stay strong in the absence of any news from family and friends.
“There is a large Filipino community here and I am sure many of them will be directly affected by this storm,” he said. “I just hope and pray that they do not sustain loss of loved ones.”
Televised images yesterday showed overturned lorries, uprooted trees, submerged houses, and the dramatic rescue of 15 crew members from a barge docked on the island of Bohol. They were helped ashore as waves crashed down around them.
Matilyn Bagunu, the president of Filcom, which represents Filipino community groups in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, said a fundraising brunch would be held on Friday. About 300 people were expected to attend the event, she said, which will be held at two locations: the consul general office in Dubai and the Philippine Oversees Labour Office.
“We want to raise as much relief money for Yolanda victims as possible,” said Ms Bagunu.
“All I could do was cry. So many friends’ families have been affected – they have been wiped out.
“Many have not been able to get in contact with their family and are relying on the news. It has not just affected one province but all of the Philippines.
“All we can do now is raise money to help those affected.”
The typhoon is the 25th serious storm to hit the Philippines this year.
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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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