'Million-man' march against Egyptian president sees minor clashes



CAIRO // Despite calls for a "million-man march" against the widening powers of Egypt's new president, only a few hundred people turned out in public squares yesterday to chant against Mohammed Morsi.

There were reports of clashes between protesters and pro-Muslim Brotherhood groups on Talaat Harb Street, near Tahrir Square - the epicentre of last year's uprising that toppled the regime of Hosni Mubarak, but no injuries were reported.

The protests were called for by critics of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group where Mr Morsi had been a senior member before resigning to become president.

He is still seen as closely allied to the Brotherhood and appointed five of its members to his cabinet.

Some demonstrators yesterday chanted in Tahrir Square: "What does the [Brotherhood's] guide want? He wants everyone to kiss his feet," according to Reuters.

The reference to "guide", or murshed, refers to the spiritual leader of the group, who is highly influential but not an elected official.

Since his inauguration on June 30, Mr Morsi has consolidated power under the presidency by cancelling a constitutional addendum that had limited his abilities and replacing several senior military leaders through forced retirements. He has also presided over a crackdown on the media, targeting an editor and television presenter who had been harshly critical of the Brotherhood's power grabs.

Several liberal groups, including the April 6 Movement that played an important role in the Tahrir protests against Mubarak last year and has been a consistent critic of the Brotherhood in the past, did not attend yesterday's demonstrations.

The group said on its Facebook page it disagreed with the Brotherhood on some of its policies, but that it would wait to give Mr Morsi more time to prove whether he is a capable leader of Egypt.

bhope@thenational.ae

* With additional reporting by Reuters

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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.”