Hedi oversees all business and investment activity of the firm. The funds he manages and co-manages have won several awards and nominations including a top ranking on Citywire for the MENA fund’s 3-year performance. Prior to founding the firm, Hedi was a Director at Merrill Lynch responsible for CEEMEA region for equity and equity derivatives where he was instrumental in developing the first structured transactions on frontier markets. Prior to Merrill Lynch, Hedi worked for BNP Paribas. Hedi holds a M.Sc. in Finance and Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Mehdi has be working in regional equities since 2011, with a focus on consumer, building materials, and real estate. Mehdi previously worked for BNP Paribas and UBS where he was responsible for credit structuring. He holds a master’s degree in general engineering from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées and a master’s degree in Quantitative Finance from PARIS VII University, both in Paris. Mehdi is a CFA charter holder.

Junaid has worked in asset management and investment banking since 2003. Junaid has invested in the region through multiple economic cycles. Junaid worked at EFG-Hermes Asset Management before joining the firm, and prior to that, he worked at Mashreqbank where he was the portfolio manager of its regional flagship fund.  Junaid’s expertise includes banking, insurance, education, and healthcare focusing on Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt. Junaid holds a master’s degree in business administration from the Institute of Business Administration in Karachi and is also a CFA and CAIA charter holder.

Sandeep has been investing in small emerging and frontier equities since 2006. Prior to joining the firm, Sandeep was a key member of the real estate, construction and utilities equity research team at Deutsche Bank ranked ‘Institutional Investor’. He is a CFA charter holder and holds an MSc in Financial Mathematics from University of Exeter, United Kingdom.

Ali is responsible for leading the research efforts across all public equities’ strategies in addition to overseeing the implementation of the firm’s ESG framework as a member of the ESG team. Prior to this, Ali worked at the largest private equity fund in Pakistan as a Senior Manager overseeing the Fund’s healthcare and consumer investments and at the Economic & Valuation Services practice of KPMG LLP in Chicago (USA). Ali earned a B.A. in Economics from Ohio Wesleyan University.

Nabil is responsible for trading since 2016. Nabil has worked as an Equity derivatives trader at Royal Bank of Scotland, with a special focus Exotic and Dynamic strategies products and prior to that he worked for BNP Paris as Equity Exotics trader. Nabil holds a Master’s degree in International Finance from HEC Paris, as well as an engineering degree from Central Supelec.

Francesc is responsible for the firm’s global emerging markets debt strategy. He joined from PIMCO where he was an Executive Vice-President and the lead portfolio manager for $US17.0 billion of AUM in global emerging market hard-and-local currency strategies. Prior to his time at PIMCO, Francesc was the Head of Emerging Markets for Rogge Capital Partners, where he was responsible for Emerging Market portfolios at the Harvard Management Company. Francesc started his career as a sovereign analyst at Moody’s Investor Services in New York and spent 4 years as an economist at the International Monetary Fund in Washington D.C. Francesc holds a BA from the University of Barcelona in Spain and a MA in International Economics and Foreign Affairs from the John Hopkins University.

Usman is responsible for the firm’s MENA credit and global sukuk strategies. He joined the firm from Emirates NBD Asset Management where he was the Head of Investments and was responsible for EM Corporate Credit and MENA Fixed Income and achieved top quartile performance across his funds. Prior to his time at Emirates NBD, Usman was a director at Mashreq Capital where he was responsible for the bank’s distressed debt and structured credit investments. Usman began his career at TCH Miami where he oversaw the research team responsible for analyzing and monitoring lending policies for investment grade, and speculative grade corporate issuers and structured products. He holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Miami and is a CFA Charter holder.

Matthew is responsible for top-down strategy, including macroeconomic research, political analysis, and is our sovereign ESG analysis. Previously, Matthew was Managing Director and Head of the Emerging Europe, Middle East, and Africa Research (EMEA) at Barclays Capital, providing institutional clients with  strategy on rates, credit and FX products; he ranked first in the Eleonora survey for the EMEA region. Prior to that, he held a similar position at Merrill Lynch. Matthew holds a BA in Latin American Studies and Economics from the University of Texas (1988) and an MA in Economics from the Instituto Torcuato diTella (Argentina, 1989).

Kia is responsible for research and analytics, with a focus on corporate credit analysis. She previously worked for Emirates NBD Asset Management where she managed regional fixed income and was responsible for credit research, with a focus on the primary fixed income markets and secondary markets in the CEEMEA region including MENA and Sub Saharan African credits. Kia holds a bachelor’s degree in Investment Management from the University of Pretoria and is a CFA Charter holder.

Fares is responsible for Real Estate, and has over 12 years of experience in real estate. Fares manages the full investment and operations cycle of real estate acquisitions and developments at FIM Partners, including core, structured equity, value-add and opportunistic strategies. Prior to joining FIM Partners, Fares was part of the development management team at MAF Properties, focusing on the development of a mixed-use master community in Beirut. Fares has prior experience in the design and construction of large-scale developments across regional markets with a multinational engineering consultancy, Dar Group, and a regional contractor. Fares holds a B.E. in Civil Engineering (Honors) from the American University of Beirut (2009), a M.S. in Finance (Honors) from HEC Paris (2014), and a M.Sc. in Real Estate (Honors) from the University of Wisconsin (2013).

Asar is responsible for Private Investments. Starting his career in 1998, he is highly experienced in international investment banking and capital markets across Europe, MENA and Asia closing $100billion+ transactions. Asar joined the firm from Emirates NBD where he was Head of Corporate Finance, leading some of the largest IPOs in the region. He has also worked at Merrill Lynch, HSBC in London and Qinvest in Qatar. Asar is a qualified chartered accountant from Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (1996), and holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Imperial College London (1993).

Suveer has more than 15 years’ experience in private equity, entrepreneurship and investments in MENA and India. Previously, Suveer worked as Director – Investments & Strategy at Al Najah Education, a GCC based international schools group, where he was responsible for a number of multi-million dollar transactions and management of K-12 schools and nurseries. Prior to that, he was at L Catterton, LVHM’s investment arm, where he executed several marquee transactions in the consumer sector in India and led the firm’s first investment in the Middle East. Suveer started his career in the equity research team of JP Morgan in New York. He holds a degree in Finance and Management from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (2006).

Julie is responsible for legal and compliance matters. Prior to joining the firm, she worked in the investment finance groups of law firms Maples & Calder and Turner & Roulstone, and in the corporate and securities groups of law firms Blake, Cassels & Graydon and Soloway Wright. Julie qualified as a lawyer in Canada in 2001 and gained her legal experience in Canada, the Cayman Islands and Dubai. She has a Bachelor of Laws degree in common law and civil law, and an undergraduate Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Ottawa.

Vladimir is the Risk and Controls Manager for FIM Partners and is responsible for investment risk management. Prior to joining the firm, Vladimir worked for the operations/controls departments of Dubai International Securities (equities and mutual funds) and Majid Al Futtaim Trust (family office), both in Dubai. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Finance and Management from the University of Malta.

Arif manages all operational aspects of the business, drawing on his 25 years of investment banking experience. Prior to joining the firm, Arif was Managing Director at Wells Fargo in London where he set up and managed several products for the EMEA region. Before that, he worked for 15 years at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch. During that period, he worked in Hong Kong as Managing Director responsible for platform development, distribution, regulatory changes and regional oversights of teams based in the Asia Pacific region, and he worked in London as Director responsible for new products and platforms for the EMEA region where he set up and operated a successful alternative investment fund business and structured fund business. Arif holds a Masters in Finance degree from London Business School.

Maryam oversees the implementation of sustainability initiatives across the firm’s products. Maryam joins the firm from a leading Scandinavian asset manager where she worked as a Sustainability Advisor for six years. Maryam Has a Bachelor of Laws from the University of London (2008) and a Corporate Finance LLM from the University of Westminster (2011).