More than 16,000 coronavirus cases were recorded across the GCC as of Tuesday as the region toughened its measures to curb the spread of the disease.
Saudi Arabia has the highest number of infected individuals in the region with over 5,369 cases and 73 deaths.
The kingdom’s health ministry reported on Tuesday 435 new infections and eight new deaths.
Eighty-four people recovered in the last 24 hours, the ministry said, bringing the total number of recoveries to 889 cases.
Travel has been banned between Saudi Arabia’s 13 provinces and the major cities have been sealed off.
Riyadh has the most recorded cases at more than 1,500, the number includes 114 new cases announced on Tuesday.
The holy city of Makkah was one of the first cities to be placed under a restriction of movement. Authorities suspended religious tourism in February and closed mosques across the country in March.
More than 1,000 individuals were infected in Makkah, with 111 new cases on Tuesday, the health ministry said.
Makkah is home to 2 million people.
Saudi Health Minister Tawfiq Al Rabiah warned last week that coronavirus cases in the kingdom could rise to as many as 200,000 in the next few weeks if the public did not adhere to a curfew imposed on March 21.
The government had vowed to give out free treatment to those infected including undocumented immigrants and foreign residents.
Bahrain confirmed 161 new cases, bringing the total number of inflected people to 1,522 in the country on Tuesday.
Officials announced the start of clinical testing by using convalescent plasma to treat those infected.
The procedure includes using blood of recovered individuals, who are suspected of having the coronavirus antibodies in their system, on infected patients.
It would boost their immune system to help fight the disease.
Colonel Manaf Al Qahtani, member of the Bahraini National Taskforce for Combating Coronavirus, said Bahrain “will base the procedure in line with the global research” provided on the virus and experience of other countries.
The results have shown an improvement of symptoms in the first 12 to 24 hours after a patient received the plasma treatment, Col Al Qahtani, who is directing the clinic conducting the treatment, said.
Qatar reported 197 new cases, bringing the total to 3,428 people infected
The health ministry said that 39 people have recovered during the last 2 hours, raising the total number of recoveries to 373.
The newly announced cases had contracted the virus after coming into contact with infected patients, the ministry said.
Kuwait confirmed 55 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 1,355 people infected
The health ministry said that 26 patients recovered during the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 176.
Since mid-March Kuwait stopped all travel except cargo flights from the country until further notice.People are banned from going to restaurants and cafes and have been asked to no longer hold the traditional private and public gatherings, state news agency Kuna said.
Schools and universities have also shut down.
Oman, which has the lowest number of cases, reported 86 new cases of coronavirus in the Sultanate, bringing the total to 813.
The health ministry said that four people had died as a result of the virus.
It also confirmed that 130 patients had recovered since the outbreak of the pandemic.
The government said on Tuesday that it would freeze all salary promotions and bonuses for governmental employees.
The finance ministry said that government agencies must cut their budgets by at least 10 per cent.
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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.”
