Investcorp Co-CEO Leaves $52 Billion Asset Manager in Shakeup - Bloomberg

Investcorp Co-CEO Leaves $52 Billion Asset Manager in Shakeup - Bloomberg

The Middle East’s largest alternative asset manager is set to lose one of its most senior managers as part of a sweeping reshuffle that will result in the co-chief executive officer role being scrapped, with the chairman taking on more responsibilities.

Hazem Ben-Gacem is stepping down as co-chief executive officer and leaving Bahrain-based Investcorp Holdings, which manages about $52 billion in assets. Rishi Kapoor, who was also co-CEO, will take on a new role as vice chairman and chief investment officer.

Chairman Mohammed Alardhi “will assume additional responsibilities previously undertaken by the Co-CEOs,” the firm said in a statement Monday. Ben-Gacem will serve as a senior advisor until the end of October, and leave the firms as of Nov. 1.

The Harvard-educated executive joined Investcorp in 1994 and was appointed co-CEO in 2018. He helped drive the firm’s push into Asia as part of a plan to double its assets under management over the next few years.

Ben-Gacem also oversaw the firm’s investing and capital raising with sovereign and institutional investors in the Middle East, after having led Investcorp’s Europe private equity business and its global technology investments.

Investcorp established a $1 billion investment fund backed by China Investment Corp. earlier this year, capitalizing on rising trade and financial ties between the Middle East and Asia. It’s also embarked on a plan to double its infrastructure assets to over $10 billion over the next five years.

Alardhi was appointed executive chairman in 2015, as part of a generational shift in leadership at the firm, when founder Nemir Kirdar began to step back from the businesses he established in 1982 to raise money from the Middle East.

Initially focused on investing in the US and Europe, Investcorp is perhaps best known for investments in Tiffany & Co. and Gucci Ltd., made in its early years. Its operations now include private equity, real estate, private credit and infrastructure investing.

As part of the reshuffle, Investcorp reorganized its business under three units; private equity and private equity like, led by David Tayeh; real assets under Herb Myers and Mike O’Brien; and credit to be led by Jeremy Ghose. Yusef Al-Yusef will run the global distribution platform.

Investcorp counts some of the Middle East’s wealthiest royals and business moguls among its backers. In November, an investment vehicle started by the group raised $451 million in an Abu Dhabi initial public offering. Ben-Gacem will continue in his role as a vice chairman of that entity, Investcorp Capital Plc.