|
|
Speakers 
Mr Ahmed Abbas,
CEO,
Liquidity Management Center
|
 Paolo Alazraki,
Chief Executive Officer,
Real Dreams Italy srl, Milano
Paolo Alazraki has a 30 year experience in the international financial and real estate markets. He has worked for important Mutual Fund Industry players in Italy since the beginning of the industry (1969-1983). He was CEO of the Italian World Trade Centre in Milan (sponsored by the Italian Union of Industrialist) He was also consultant to the Swiss Insurance ZURICH Group; in 1986 he made the first privatization in Italy of a public bank, Cassa di Risparmio of Pisa, an operation that the Financial Times defined as “perfect”.
He bought 98% of Varese Assicurazioni and sold it after two years with an interesting profit. One of his companies, Real Dreams Italy, operated as consultant to Real Estate Funds in 2004 -.2005 it made the survey of the 500 million dollar buildings belonging to the Banca Commerciale Italian Pension Fund, that was afterwards sold by public auction. In 2006 it managed to buy a bad debt portfolio from a Swiss Bank and sold it for 10 million euros.
In 2006 he acquired a mandate as sole sales representative for Italy of SAR AG. Systematic absolute return AG is an independent Swiss fund of hedge funds manager specialised in the construction and management of niche and uncorrelated investment portfolios. The firm currently manages three funds of hedge funds.
Mr. Alazraki has bee awarded several prizes for his ethical behaviour and many restoration projects he financed (Venice, London, Florence, Milan-Arabic manuscripts, etc)
Alazraki is a very active journalist : His articles appear in newspapers and TV financial shows. He participated to many congress around the world and was speaker to more then 25: Tokyo, New York ( Institutional Investor Conference),London,( 2003 Islamic conference organized by Terrapin) Nice, Lima, Buenos Aires, Rome, Milan, Florence, Venice etc Baltimore.
|
 Dhafer AlQahtani,
General Manager,
AlTawfeek Co. for Investment Funds Ltd
Mr. AlQahtani is the General Manager of Investment Funds at Al-Tawfeek and has been with Al-Tawfeek since 2000. Prior to joining Al-Tawfeek, Mr. AlQahtani served with leading financial institutions including Ernst & Young, Banque Saudi Fransi and Samba. Mr. AlQahtani has over 18 years of diverse and progressive experience in asset management, portfolio management, corporate finance and advisory. His roles have focused on turnaround management, high-risk investment, strategy reformulation, asset allocation, securitization, private Sukuk offerings and mutual fund structuring. Mr. Alqahtani initiated and established the first Telecom Equity Fund and Private Equity Fund in the region, both fund is a Shariah complaint funds. Mr. AlQahtani is a Board Member and Director of a number of mutual funds and has a BBA in Economics and Finance from the University of Texas at Arlington, Mr. AlQahtani is member of the Saudi Economic Association (SEA) and Gulf Venture Capital Association (GVCA).
|
 Mustafa Al-Saleh,
Managing Director & CEO,
ADEEM Investment Co. Kuwait
Directing startup, fast-track growth, and turnaround organizations across diverse industries in the international market place. Experience includes new business development, Strategic Planning, Acquisitions and merges as well as fund raising.
• In-depth experience to rebuild and restructure troubled organizations.
• Strong ability to master a situation quickly and rapidly becomes fluent in the key technical, personal and historical aspects of the business. Effective sensitivity to cultural differences and motivation of the business principals.
• Second analyst able to identify operational weaknesses and improve efficiencies.
• Recognized proficiency in developing or attracting talented management and staff and in directing and motivating groups to work together as a team to achieve what might previously have been considered impossible.
Mr. Al-Saleh was one of the main drivers of investment banking business in Kuwait, with his main focus in the areas of direct investments corporate finance and investment funds in the capital markets specially. During his twenty one years experience (1984 – 2005), he held senior positions initially in 1985 as Assistant Manager of foreign investments at Industrial Investment Company (IIC) in Kuwait, then in 1987 as Manager of direct investments at Kuwait Real Estate Investment Consortium (KREIC) in Kuwait, next in 1989 as Assistant General Manager of local R.E.and direct investments at Kuwait International Investment Company (KIIC).
Since 1993, Mr. Al-Saleh was providing advisory work in the areas of risk management, corporate finance advisory and capital markets consultancies and specialized corporate finance, M&A and financial restructuring services for the investment and financial community in Kuwait from a firm he founded, and managed starting 1993 “ Technical Economics Advisory “ (TEA). Through (TEA), Mr. Al-Saleh serviced a host of Kuwait institutions such as Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), Kuwait Investment Office (KIO), Kuwait Awqaf, Kuwait Investment Company (KIC), Kuwait Investment Projects Co. (KIPCO) and some of its subsidiaries companies as well as many others, Kuwaiti and GCC companies.
Mr. Al-Saleh is currently the Managing Director & CEO of ADEEM Investment Co. – (KSC) Kuwait.
Mr. Al-Saleh is an engineering graduate from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with extensive finance and investment training with the Institute of Banking Studies, CITIBANK and Euro Money Institute of Finance and is known quality to a lot of people in the investment banking field through some earlier joint venture initiatives as well as via the wealth of knowledge and results he displayed during 21 years career span.
|
Nizar Al-Shubaily,
Global Head, Islamic Structuring,
Deutsche Bank, UAE
|
 Haissam Arabi,
Head of Asset Management,
SHUAA Capital, UAE
|
Hisham Ayass,
Senior Financial Market Analyst,
CNBC Arabia, UAE
|
Salem Balleith,
Head of Investments,
SEDCO
Until his appointment as the Chief Financial Officer in 2005, Salem was the Senior Vice President of the Financial Investments Group (FIG) at SEDCO. At FIG he oversaw the formulation and implementation of asset allocation, strategies, policies and procedures. He is a member of the company’s Executive Committee in addition to other ad hoc task forces. He is also a board member of an Islamic offshore fund and sits on the Shari’ah Board of the Alfanar family of funds. Salem also represents SEDCO in some of the private equity funds focusing on China, Asia and Central Europe. He joined SEDCO in 1997.
Prior to SEDCO, Salem held several senior management positions with the Savola Group of Companies as Head of Internal Audit, GM Special Projects with responsibility for mergers and acquisitions and Financial Controller. Before that, he was an Audit Manager with Ernst & Young, where he trained and qualified as a Certified Accountant.
|
Muhammed Becic,
Shape Financial Corp, USA
|
Mr Fahed Boodai,
Deputy Managing Director,
Global Securities House
|
Andrew Broadley,
Division Head - NCB Investment Services,
National Commercial Bank
Andrew joined NCB in 2003 from Nedbank, the largest bank in South Africa, where he had been the Chief Investment Officer of Nedbank Syfrets Private Bank and previously the Chief Executive of Syfrets Private Bank.
Prior to that, Andrew was with the Orbis/Allan Gray asset management group. Orbis is a Bermuda-based fund manager which received the Standard & Poors first place award for investment performance in the Offshore Global Equity sector; Allan Gray Ltd is the largest privately-owned fund manager in South Africa, focused on equity stock-picking. Andrew had spent 12 years working in the UK and USA.
|
Ikbal Daredia,
Deputy CEO,
NoRiba Bank
|
Christopher Demetropoulos,
BNP Paribas SA, Structured Product Division
|
Paul S Devonshire,
Director,
Pramerica Real Estate Investors (Europe) AG
|
 Richard Ellis,
Co-Chief Executive Officer,
Amiri Capital LLP, UK
Richard Ellis has over 10 years experience in strategy consulting and business development. After completing his degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford, Richard started his career as a strategic management consultant at LEK consulting. His consulting projects spanned a range of industries but with a focus on financial services. Following this, and after completing a MBA at INSEAD, Richard explored entrepreneurial opportunities in financial services, both within Lloyds TSB’s Strategic Ventures department and on an independent basis. Utilising the knowledge base gained while building Lloyds TSB’s Islamic banking offer, including its asset management business, he has set about structuring a Shariah compliant fund of hedge fund managers in partnership with a range of leading institutions as one of the founding partners of Amiri Capital.
|
Sean Evers,
Bureau Chief,
Bloomberg News, UAE
|
Michael Gassner,
Islamic Finance Consultant and Editor,
IslamicFinance.de
|
Badlisyah Abdul Ghani,
Group Head, Islamic Banking Division,
CIMB (Commerce International Merchant Bankers Berhad)
|
Navid Goraya,
Managing Director and Global Head of Amanah Wealth Management,
HSBC Amanah
|
Hesham Hamdy,
General Manager & Chief Risk Officer,
Bank of Alexandria
|
 Sheikh Hussain Hamid Hassan,
Chairman, Fatwa and Shari’a Advisory Board,
Dubai Islamic Bank
|
Khuram Hussain,
Partner,
Tabarak
|
Sohail Jaffer,
Managing Director,
FWU Premium Select Lux S.A.
In addition to being the Managing Director of PREMIUM SELECT LUX S.A., an asset management company, Sohail is also a Partner and CIO within the FWU Group, a Financial Services Group headquartered in Munich focusing on asset management, life insurance and pensions. Previously he was SVP within the International Mutual Funds Group of Scudder, Stevens and Clark Ltd, based in London and responsible for international product development in Europe and Japan. Before that, he was Director within Citibank’s Alternative Investment Strategies Group, which formed part of Citibank Global Asset Management.
|
Baljeet Kaur Grewal,
Chief Economist & Head of Fixed Income Research,
Aseambankers
Baljeet Kaur Grewal is Chief Economist & Head, Fixed Income Research with Aseambankers Malaysia, the Investment Banking arm of the Maybank Group. Prior to joining Aseambankers, Baljeet was attached to ABN AMRO Bank and Deutsche Bank, London with experiences ranging from Credit Structuring, Loan Syndication and Capital Market Research. She has broad experience in investment banking, having participated in notable Islamic fund raising transactions in Asia. To date, she has undertaken research in Islamic finance with a principle focus on debt capital markets and Sukuks. She has written and published 31 articles on Developing Economies & Debt Markets, Islamic Debt Structures and South East Asian Economies; and has addressed numerous international Islamic conferences & forums.
Baljeet holds a 1st Class Honours in International Economics from the University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. She has a dedicated column in an International Islamic Bulletin, a local daily and two various magazines discussing economic and bond market overview.
Aseambankers is a premier investment bank having won numerous awards in capital market transactions, including Euromoney Islamic Finance Award 2004 and the prestigious Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Makhtoum award in collaboration with Dow Jones Islamic & the International Islamic Financial Markets (Dubai) for Regional Contribution to Islamic Finance R&D (Asia).
The Maybank Group is Malaysia’s largest banking group with 451 branches in Malaysia and a branch in Bahrain with total asset size of USD45.5bln. Amongst top awards given to the bank include: 2005 Asiamoney Award - Best Domestic Commercial Bank In Malaysia, 2005.
|
Ramzi Abu Khadra,
Vice President, Private Banking,
Jp Morgan Chase
|
Mubashar Khokhar,
Islamic Banking Division Head,
Mashreqbank
|
 Kevin Lim,
Managing Partner,
STIC Investments, Korea
|
Margrith Lutschg-Emmenegger,
President,
FIMBank plc.
|
Hasham Malik,
Managing Partner,
Richland Capital LLC
|
Paul McNamara,
Managing Editor and Associate Publisher,
Banker Middle East
|
Michael Miller,
Principal,
Paragon Private Equity, UK
|
 Yavar Moini,
Executive Director,
Morgan Stanley
|
Saadat Muzaffar,
Head, Global Wealth Management,
Dubai Islamic Bank, UAE
Saadat is the Managing Director of the Wealth Management and Non-Resident Division of Millennium Capital International, the investment and international banking arm of Dubai Islamic Bank. He is responsible for spearheading the initiative to set up the first ever integrated Wealth Management platform catering to the needs of High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) for Shari’a-compliant investment solutions. He is also responsible for catering to the banking needs of the Non-Resident individuals located mainly in the GCC and other countries such as Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Sudan.
Saadat has diversified banking experience encompassing international wealth management, asset management and brokerage services, and consumer and corporate banking; a proven track record in sales management & marketing; and recognized within the investment community for his ability to build & develop business relationships. Over time while working with leading banks, he has been able to develop a comprehensive client base, including HNWIs & Institutions in the UK, Middle East, India & Pakistan.
Prior to DIB, Saadat was Vice President-Investments at Merrill Lynch Dubai. Before that, he was Vice President & Financial Advisor With Prudential-Bache Dubai for Middle East, India & Pakistan & South Africa region, for their Investment Services, Mutual Funds, Fixed Income & Brokerage business. Saadat was also Deputy Head & Senior Representative with Credit Suisse, Dubai from 1997 to 2000. He started his career with HSBC in 1985.
|
Adam Nathif,
Head of Investment,
National Bank of Sharjah
|
Mr Khalid Nazir,
VP, Head of Investments,
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
|
Hasnain Raza Nensey,
Chief Investment Officer,
UBL Fund Managers Limited
|
 Mr Rakesh Patnaik,
Head - Real Estate Investment Funds, Investment Funds (Real Estate),
Global Investment House, Kuwait
Rakesh Patnaik is the Real Estate Fund Manager at Global Investment House, Kuwait (www.globalinv.net), with the responsibility of Structuring, Sponsoring, Launching and Managing real estate funds on a worldwide basis.
Rakesh has 10 years of experience in Real Estate Investment, Acquisition, Corporate Real Estate and Leasing, with property experience in key markets in United States, The Gulf Region and South Asia.
Prior to being in the Middle-East, Rakesh was based in India and Singapore.
|
Christian R. Mouchbahani,
Chief Eexcutive Officer,
Jefferies Middle East & North Africa
|
Nasser Saidi,
Chief Economist,
Dubai International Financial Centre, UAE
Currently the Chief Economist, and Executive Director of the Hawkamah-Institute for Corporate Governance at the DIFC, Dr. Saidi was a former Minister of Economy and Trade and Minister of Industry of Lebanon (1998-2000). He was also the First Vice-Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon for two successive mandates, 1993-1998 and 1998-2003.
Dr. Saidi is co-chair with the OECD of the MENA Corporate Governance Working Group. He is a Member of the UN Committee for Development Policy (UNCDP) since 2000, appointed in his personal capacity by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. He has a recent book, “Corporate Governance in the MENA countries: Improving Transparency & Disclosure”, and other books and publications addressing macroeconomic, capital market development and international economic issues in Lebanon and the region.
Dr. Saidi has served as economic adviser and director to a number of central banks and financial institutions in the Arab countries, Europe and Central and Latin America. Prior to his public career, Dr. Saidi was a professor of economics at the University of Chicago, the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales (Geneva, CH), and the Université de Genève, and was a lecturer at the American University of Beirut and the Université St. Joseph in Beirut.
|
 Bindesh Shah,
Co-Chief Executive Officer,
Amiri Capital LLP, UK
Bindesh P Shah has over 10 years experience in strategy consulting, business development, product structuring and senior management. After completing his degree in Economics at the University of Cambridge, Bindesh started his career as a strategic management consultant at LEK consulting. His consulting projects spanned a range of industries but with a focus on financial services. Following this, and after completing a MBA at Wharton, he worked for Lloyds TSB Strategic Ventures, where he led its development of the partnership with ICICI Bank, one of India’s leading banks, and Lloyds TSB Islamic Financial Services. Utilising the knowledge and experience he developed while creating the latter business, including its asset management arm, he has set about structuring a Shariah compliant fund of hedge fund managers in partnership with a range of leading institutions as one of the founding partners of Amiri Capital.
|
Aoun F. Sharaf,
Fund Manager & Portfolio Strategist,
Hutchinson Lilley Investments, Ltd., UK
|
Rushdi Siddiqui,
Director - Islamic Market Index,
Dow Jones
Rushdi is Global Director of the Dow Jones Islamic Index Group, where he has created over sixty Islamic indexes and manages a six-member Shari'ah Board. He manages over twenty-five licensees with $4B assets under management.
Rushdi is a highly respected authority on Islamic finance, having delivered presentations at Islamic finance conferences throughout the world, held over 100 media interviews and written over 25 articles on the subject in international publications. He is a contributing editor to Islamic Banker, was Advisor on Islamic Capital Markets to Euromoney's Islamic Finance Weekly and was a lecturer on "Principles of Islamic Investing" for the on-line Dow Jones University. In 2004, he received CERT Award for Excellence in Islamic Finance. In 2003, he received the Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Bin Makhtoum Award of Innovation in Islamic Finance.
|
Mulya E. Siregar,
Head of Islamic Banking and Research and Regulation, Shari'ah Banking Team,
Central Bank of Indonesia
In addition to being the Executive Researcher heading Islamic Banking Research and Development in the Shari’ah Banking team, Dr. Mulya also holds two portfolios as the Vice Chairman of the Technical Committee, as well as Chairman of the Transparency & Market Discipline Working Group, of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) in Malaysia.
Dr. Mulya has written publications that cover topics such as the Development Strategy and Regulation of Islamic Bank: the Indonesia Pathway, the Islamic Capital Market Instruments for inter-sectoral integration, Islamic Banking Development in Indonesia, and more. Dr. Mulya has a PhD in Consumer Economics from the Ohio State University, USA.
|
 Gabriel Stein,
Chief International Economist,
Lombard Street Research Ltd
|
Eric N. Swats,
Partner, Head of Asset Management,
Rasmala Investments LLC, UAE
|
Dr Taha El Tayeb Mohammed,
Mashreqbank, UAE
|
Muhammad Ikram Thowfeek,
Head of Corporate Strategy,
Commercial Bank of Qatar
|
 Hanuman Tripathi,
Managing Director,
Infrasoft Technologies, India
Mr. Hanuman Tripathi, Managing Director, Infrasoft Technologies, conceptualized InfrasoftTech in 1994 and manages the corporate functions of the company through the heads of HR, Finance and Corporate Communication. He is responsible for global Business Performance, Brand Management and maintaining Organization Culture.
Mr. Tripathi has over 24 years experience in the IT & Telecom industry with the last 15 years devoted to Banking Solutions business. He has worked with several global scale companies with a rapid career growth in Sales, Marketing and Corporate Roles. He is a Science graduate with a Post Graduation in Business Management from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, India.
Mr. Tripathi is a thought leader in the banking technology industry and has been a regular speaker at several global technology conclaves.
|
Deon Vernooy,
Head of Asset Management,
Emirates Bank, UAE
Mr. Vernooy is Head of Asset Management Unit at Emirates Bank Group and is responsible for the management, ongoing development and maintenance of all investment products for the bank's multiple distribution channels. Mr Vernooy is also a Chartered Financial Analyst and has held senior posts such as Head of Investment Strategy, Head of Macro Research and Investment Strategy as well as Equity Analyst and Portfolio Manager at renowned organizations over the past 18 years.
|
 Mr Michael Walton,
Chief Executive,
Rynda Property Investors
Michael is a co-founder and Chief Executive of Rynda Property Investors LLP – the independent real estate fund management house.
Michael is a qualified Chartered Surveyor with an MBA in Real Estate Finance. Michael began his career with Knight Frank, before four years at both Richard Ellis Financial Services Ltd and Lazard Brothers & Co., Ltd.
Prior to forming Rynda, Michael had spent over 7 years establishing and running the principal investing and fund management business in Europe for Citigroup Property Investors.
Michael has been at the forefront of expertise not only in structuring and investing European real estate funds but also in developing European Shari'ah compliant real estate products.
In forming Rynda, Michael fulfilled a desire to create an independent real estate fund management business that retains the flexibility to create and run a range of specialist funds for all types of global real estate investors. Critically, Rynda co-invests with its clients creating a true alignment of interests and partnership with investors.
|
 Nizam Yaquby,
Sharia Scholar,
Independent
|
Khalid Yousaf,
Director of Islamic Finance,
DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre)
Khalid is currently the Director – Islamic Finance at Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) responsible for developing a unique value proposition and attracting Islamic Financial Institutions to operate from its platform. Khalid has extensive experience within the world’s leading banking groups. He has been Managing Director of the Financial Institutions Group at Bank of America in the UK. Working at Citibank in the UK, Turkey, USA, Belgium, Greece & Pakistan, his roles included Country Operations Officer and Vice President Positions. His areas of banking expertise span over Operations, IT, Treasury Management, Risk Management, Financial Control and B2B e-Business Solution. In addition, he has held a number of key Business Development roles in Islamic and traditional banking products, transaction banking and capital market products including syndicated loans, leveraged finance, ECPs & MTNs, derivatives & swaps, equities and fixed income. Khalid’s extra-curricular interests include readings in astrophysics, playing golf and swimming.
|
|
|
|
