Members from a coalition of rebel groups called 'Jaish al Fateh', also known as 'Army of Fatah' (Conquest Army), man a checkpoint in Idlib city, Syria July 18, 2017. Ammar Abdullah / Reuters
Members from a coalition of rebel groups called 'Jaish al Fateh', also known as 'Army of Fatah' (Conquest Army), man a checkpoint in Idlib city, Syria July 18, 2017. Ammar Abdullah / Reuters

Fighting in Syria's Idlib province spreads to Turkey border crossing

Border crossing at Bab Al Hawa is now a "battlefield" says war monitor.

* Agence France Presse

July 21, 2017

Clashes in Syria's Idlib province between a powerful militant group and a key rebel faction intensified overnight  through the early hours of Friday, spreading to a border crossing with Turkey.

The running battles between the jihadist Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), led by a former Al Qaeda affiliate, and the Ahrar Al Sham rebel group have so far killed at least 65 people, including 15 civilians.

The clashes erupted earlier this week, and quickly spread through the province, which is one of the last remaining bastions of opposition-held territory.

Overnight, fierce battles raged in several parts of the province, including inside the Bab Al Hawa border crossing, which was previously fully controlled by Ahrar Al Sham.

"The fighting is now inside the crossing. It has become a battlefield, with part of it under Hayat Tahrir Al Sham's control, and part under Ahrar AlSham's control," said  Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the war monitoring service, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Witnesses also reported heavy clashes on the outskirts of the town of Binnish and attempts by HTS to break into the village of Ram Hamdan.

HTS and Ahrar once formed the backbone of the Army of Conquest that captured most of Idlib province from the government in 2015. But tensions between the two factions have been rising for some time and the latest clashes erupted in part over Ahrar's attempts to fly the flag of the Syrian revolution in the provincial capital, Idlib city.

HTS is dominated by the Fateh Al Sham faction, which was previously known as Al Nusra Front before dropping its official designation as Al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate.

The clashes have been accompanied by sporadic demonstrations against HTS in several parts of the province, including in the town of Sarmada where the extremists on Wednesday and Thursday opened fire on protests against them.

Both sides have set up new checkpoints, and the fighting has turned parts of the province into virtual ghost towns with residents staying at home for fear of being caught in the fighting.

The Observatory said at least 15 civilians, including four children, have been killed in the fighting so far, including a media activist killed in the Wednesday demonstration in Saraqeb..Another 50 fighters from both sides have been killed in clashes and executions.

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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.”