Spanish priest Jordi Bertomeu, the Pope's second special envoy to Chile, at a press conference in the central courtyard of the Catholic University of Santiago. Scicluna stressed that the Catholic Church should collaborate with the justice in cases of sexual abuse of minors. EPA
Spanish priest Jordi Bertomeu, the Pope's second special envoy to Chile, at a press conference in the central courtyard of the Catholic University of Santiago. Scicluna stressed that the Catholic ChurShow more

The Americas

Chile authorities raid sites linked to church sex abuse

Several members of the church hierarchy are accused by victims of ignoring and covering up years of child abuse

Agence France Presse

June 14, 2018

Police seized church files in raids in Santiago and Rancagua, as the Catholic Church scrambled to try to put a better face on a sex-abuse scandal that has rocked Chile.

The surprise operations came as Maltese archbishop Charles Scicluna and fellow papal envoy Jordi Bertomeu are visiting for a second time to take witness statements from victims of sexual abuse in the church and provide instruction to Chilean dioceses to respond adequately to any new complaints.

Prosecutor Emiliano Arias confirmed two "landmark" raids and said he was pleased with how they went. Because church officials were not subject to civilian authority in Chile, this marked a dramatic shift.

"This is not an investigation against the Catholic church," Mr Arias said, but rather an investigation of reports of sex abuse by members of the church who abused minors.

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Read more:

Pope Francis begins Chile purge over child abuse

Vatican's Cardinal Pell pleads not guilty in sex abuse trial

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Several members of the church hierarchy, including former bishop Juan Barros, are accused by victims of ignoring and covering up years of child abuse by Chilean paedophile priest Fernando Karadima during the 1980s and 1990s.

Pope Francis appointed 61-year-old Barros as bishop of Osorno in 2015, when victims' allegations against him were already widely known.

The pontiff himself became mired in the scandal when, during a trip to Chile in January, he defended Barros, who was accused of covering up Karadima's wrongdoing.

Karadima was suspended for life by the Vatican over the allegations of child molestation, and Barros was one of three bishops whose resignations Pope Francis accepted on Monday.

Scicluna and Bertomeu visited Chile in February to investigate the allegations and meet with victims. Their report to Rome noted the existence of a "culture of abuse" within the Chilean Church.

In a letter to Chileans released at the end of last month, the pontiff voiced "shame" that the Catholic Church failed "to listen and react in time" to the allegations of sexual abuse by Chilean clergy.

He has since received two groups of Karadima's victims at the Vatican.

Since 2000, about 80 Catholic priests have been reported to authorities in Chile for alleged sexual abuse.

Earlier Sciclina told reporters "it is so important to show a sign of willingness to co-operate".

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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.”