Former Libyan oil minister drowned in Danube, says Austrian police



VIENNA // Shukri Ghanem, the former Libyan oil minister, died by drowning but there was no sign of another party being involved "so far", Vienna police said today, a day after Ghanem was found dead in the Danube River.

"The death was by drowning ... no signs of involvement by another party have been detected so far," Roman Hahslinger, a police spokesman, said, citing preliminary autopsy results.

More complete results were expected later in the week with a toxicology report following probably next week, he said, without giving any more details as to what might have led to the drowning.

The police were continuing their inquiries and possible witnesses were also being questioned to clarify Ghanem's death, which apparently occurred in the early hours of Sunday.

Ghanem, 69, was found by a passer-by Sunday morning floating in the water fully clothed in a part of the Danube flanked on both sides by dozens of bars and restaurants, and just a few hundred metres from the flat where he lived with at least one daughter, Mr Hahslinger said.

Asked by journalists whether the death could have been a suicide or a murder, Mr Hahslinger said Ghanem's behaviour had apparently been very normal on the evening before his death, but that he felt "slightly ill".

The police had no information of any serious illness Ghanem may have had and found no suicide notes or written threats.

Ghanem's daughter noticed her father was missing Sunday morning around 10am (12pm UAE), by which time the body had already been found.

The former minister was carrying no identification but police found on him the address of a Viennese company that allowed him to be identified.

It was unclear where Ghanem may have fallen in the Danube, Hahslinger also said. The preliminary autopsy results however indicate he was not in the water for very long before he was found, maybe one or two hours.

Ghanem served as Libya's oil minister from 2006 to 2011 but abandoned Muammar Qaddafi's regime in mid-May last year as it battled the rebels who ultimately were to overthrow it with Western help.

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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.”