Deutsche Bank Brings Back Al Kishi as CEO for Mideast, Africa - Bloomberg
Deutsche Bank AG appointed Jamal Al Kishi for a second stint as chief executive officer for the Middle East and Africa, four years after the seasoned executive left to lead a regional bank.
Al Kishi will also assume the role of vice chairman for origination and advisory from April 1, according to a statement. He replaces Deutsche’s current head of the region, Kees Hoving, who will focus on his roles within the corporate bank and as chief country officer for the United Arab Emirates.
The Saudi national is returning to the German lender after spending four years as the head of Gulf International Bank in Bahrain. He was previously the regional CEO of Deutsche Bank between 2016 and 2020 and was also head of the group’s franchise in Saudi Arabia.
International banks including HSBC Holdings Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have been beefing up their operations in the oil-rich Gulf region which is playing an increasingly important role on the global finance stage through its large corporates and sovereign entities.
Deutsche Bank has been rebuilding its Middle Eastern presence in recent years through several key hires from rival banks. Since 2010, the lender has more than doubled its capital commitment in the region.
“We see clear opportunity in key emerging markets like Middle East and Africa, and rising client demand as activity accelerates around its increasingly important growth corridors,” Alexander von zur Muehlen, Deutsche Bank’s CEO for Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Germany, said in the statement.
Al Kishi will be based in Riyadh, though he will be spending significant time in Deutsche Bank’s Middle Eastern hub in Dubai. That underscores how some global banks are increasing their focus on Saudi Arabia. The kingdom has been putting pressure on international firms to move senior people or their regional headquarters to the capital.
Tuesday, 23 January 2024
Wise Plc Among UK Fintech Delegation Heading to #SaudiArabia - Bloomberg
Wise Plc Among UK Fintech Delegation Heading to Saudi Arabia - Bloomberg
A delegation of business leaders from the UK’s financial technology community will head to Saudi Arabia this month as part of efforts to lure investment into British startups.
Executives from Wise Plc and venture capital firms Anthemis Group and Outward VC are among those expected to attend, according to documents seen by Bloomberg. They’ll meet with representatives from the Saudi Central Bank and the Public Investment Fund in Riyadh as part of the three-day mission, the documents show.
Investment in the UK’s fintech sector has dried up in recent years as higher interest rates, inflation and declines in valuations curbed appetite. Total investment in the sector plummeted to $5.1 billion in 2023, a 65% decline from a year earlier, according to Innovate Finance.
Meanwhile investment in Saudi’s startup market has been heating up. Tamara, a buy-now-pay-later startup, was valued at over $1 billion after raising $340 million in December. Tabby, another Saudi-based fintech company, hit a $1.5 billion valuation in its own fundraising.
This month’s event will be led by the Saudi British Joint Business Council (SBJBC) and is set to include two dozen fintech executives, partners, and investors. The aim of the event, which is also backed by the UK’s Department for Business and Trade, is to support “knowledge exchange between the UK and Saudi fintech ecosystem,” according to a statement online.
The first UK fintech mission went to Riyadh in 2022, and a handful of British firms have received funding from the kingdom. Wahed, an online investing platform, raised around $50 million in a funding round led by the venture capital arm of Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Center.
A delegation of business leaders from the UK’s financial technology community will head to Saudi Arabia this month as part of efforts to lure investment into British startups.
Executives from Wise Plc and venture capital firms Anthemis Group and Outward VC are among those expected to attend, according to documents seen by Bloomberg. They’ll meet with representatives from the Saudi Central Bank and the Public Investment Fund in Riyadh as part of the three-day mission, the documents show.
Investment in the UK’s fintech sector has dried up in recent years as higher interest rates, inflation and declines in valuations curbed appetite. Total investment in the sector plummeted to $5.1 billion in 2023, a 65% decline from a year earlier, according to Innovate Finance.
Meanwhile investment in Saudi’s startup market has been heating up. Tamara, a buy-now-pay-later startup, was valued at over $1 billion after raising $340 million in December. Tabby, another Saudi-based fintech company, hit a $1.5 billion valuation in its own fundraising.
This month’s event will be led by the Saudi British Joint Business Council (SBJBC) and is set to include two dozen fintech executives, partners, and investors. The aim of the event, which is also backed by the UK’s Department for Business and Trade, is to support “knowledge exchange between the UK and Saudi fintech ecosystem,” according to a statement online.
The first UK fintech mission went to Riyadh in 2022, and a handful of British firms have received funding from the kingdom. Wahed, an online investing platform, raised around $50 million in a funding round led by the venture capital arm of Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Center.
#AbuDhabi's Mubadala Aims to Double Exposure to Asia by End of the Decade - Bloomberg
Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Aims to Double Exposure to Asia by End of the Decade - Bloomberg
Mubadala Investment Co. is seeking to roughly double its exposure to Asia, joining a bevy of Abu Dhabi-based entities eyeing opportunities in faster-growing emerging markets.
Across Mubadala, “out of our roughly $300 billion in assets under management, only 12% is in Asia today and we want to move that number closer to 25%,” by as soon as 2030, Camilla Macapili Languille, head of the fund’s life sciences and healthcare investments division said in an interview.
While investments in North America and Europe make up a chunk of Mubadala’s portfolio, the Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund is shifting its attention to emerging-markets where it is currently “underweight,” namely in China, India, Japan and South Korea, according to Macapili Languille whose unit is in charge of international healthcare investments.
“The US will continue to be a core market for us not only for healthcare but in general for the broader private equity business,” she said. Still, “we have always had an interest in Asia.”
Mubadala’s healthcare investment division writes “smaller checks of $200 million to $500 million,” in Asia, compared with up to $1 billion in North America and Europe, she said, “but again, we have flexibility to move up.”
Mubadala Investment Co. is seeking to roughly double its exposure to Asia, joining a bevy of Abu Dhabi-based entities eyeing opportunities in faster-growing emerging markets.
Across Mubadala, “out of our roughly $300 billion in assets under management, only 12% is in Asia today and we want to move that number closer to 25%,” by as soon as 2030, Camilla Macapili Languille, head of the fund’s life sciences and healthcare investments division said in an interview.
While investments in North America and Europe make up a chunk of Mubadala’s portfolio, the Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund is shifting its attention to emerging-markets where it is currently “underweight,” namely in China, India, Japan and South Korea, according to Macapili Languille whose unit is in charge of international healthcare investments.
“The US will continue to be a core market for us not only for healthcare but in general for the broader private equity business,” she said. Still, “we have always had an interest in Asia.”
Mubadala’s healthcare investment division writes “smaller checks of $200 million to $500 million,” in Asia, compared with up to $1 billion in North America and Europe, she said, “but again, we have flexibility to move up.”
Mideast Stocks: Gulf markets end mixed on volatile oil, geopolitical tensions
Mideast Stocks: Gulf markets end mixed on volatile oil, geopolitical tensions
Stock markets in the Gulf ended mixed on Tuesday, with the Abu Dhabi index falling for the eighth straight session on volatile oil prices and rising tensions in the region.
Oil prices - which fuel the Gulf's economy - eased slightly as traders weighed simmering geopolitical tensions in several regions with supply outages in the U.S. and returning production in Libya.
Tensions rose in the Middle East, where U.S. and British forces carried out a second joint round of strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen on Monday night. In Abu Dhabi, the index dropped 0.3%, hit by a 0.5% fall in conglomerate International Holding Co.
According to Abdelhadi Laabi, Chief Marketing Officer at KAMA Capital, the Abu Dhabi bourse was affected by fluctuations in oil prices and ongoing geopolitical tensions.
"While price corrections could continue for some time, the market could stabilize if conditions improve and return to its uptrend over the last few months."
The Qatari benchmark eased 0.1%, with the Gulf's biggest lender, Qatar National Bank losing 1.1%.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index edged down, with media giant MBC Group, snapping a seven-day winning streak, falling 9.9%. Since its debut on Jan. 08, the MBC group has risen 188% against its initial public offering price of 25 riyals per share.
Dubai's main share index advanced 0.6%, led by a 8.9% jump in Mashreq Bank The Dubai stock market could continue to find support in the positive local fundamentals. Attention could also turn to earnings releases, which might affect the market trajectory, said Laabi.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index dropped 1.6%, retreating from record peak, as most of its constituents were in negative territory, including tobacco monopoly Eastern Company, which slid 4.9%.
Stock markets in the Gulf ended mixed on Tuesday, with the Abu Dhabi index falling for the eighth straight session on volatile oil prices and rising tensions in the region.
Oil prices - which fuel the Gulf's economy - eased slightly as traders weighed simmering geopolitical tensions in several regions with supply outages in the U.S. and returning production in Libya.
Tensions rose in the Middle East, where U.S. and British forces carried out a second joint round of strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen on Monday night. In Abu Dhabi, the index dropped 0.3%, hit by a 0.5% fall in conglomerate International Holding Co.
According to Abdelhadi Laabi, Chief Marketing Officer at KAMA Capital, the Abu Dhabi bourse was affected by fluctuations in oil prices and ongoing geopolitical tensions.
"While price corrections could continue for some time, the market could stabilize if conditions improve and return to its uptrend over the last few months."
The Qatari benchmark eased 0.1%, with the Gulf's biggest lender, Qatar National Bank losing 1.1%.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index edged down, with media giant MBC Group, snapping a seven-day winning streak, falling 9.9%. Since its debut on Jan. 08, the MBC group has risen 188% against its initial public offering price of 25 riyals per share.
Dubai's main share index advanced 0.6%, led by a 8.9% jump in Mashreq Bank The Dubai stock market could continue to find support in the positive local fundamentals. Attention could also turn to earnings releases, which might affect the market trajectory, said Laabi.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index dropped 1.6%, retreating from record peak, as most of its constituents were in negative territory, including tobacco monopoly Eastern Company, which slid 4.9%.
Mideast Stocks: Major Gulf markets mixed on muted oil prices, regional tensions
Mideast Stocks: Major Gulf markets mixed on muted oil prices, regional tensions
Major stock markets in the Gulf were mixed in early trade on Tuesday, with the Saudi index on course to snap two sessions of gains, amid muted oil prices and rising tensions in the region.
Oil prices, a catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets, were little changed as traders weighed a host of conflicting supply and demand worries, from rising tensions in the Middle East to cold weather woes disrupting U.S. production.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index eased 0.1%, hit by a 9.9% slide in MBC Group.
Public Investment Fund (PIF), the country's sovereign wealth fund, launched a $5 billion bond on Monday, capital markets publication IFR reported.
In Abu Dhabi, the index was down 0.4%, weighed by a 0.6% fall in conglomerate International Holding.
Meanwhile, Dubai's main share index gained 0.4%, helped by a 8.9% rise in Mashreq Bank.
Separately, the United Arab Emirates president has issued a law establishing an artificial intelligence and advanced technology council, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said on Monday.
Elsewhere, U.S. and British forces carried out a fresh round of strikes targeting an underground storage site as well as missile and surveillance capabilities used by the Iran-aligned Houthi group.
The Qatari benchmark added 0.2%, with petrochemical maker Mesaieed Petrochemical advancing 3.4%.
Major stock markets in the Gulf were mixed in early trade on Tuesday, with the Saudi index on course to snap two sessions of gains, amid muted oil prices and rising tensions in the region.
Oil prices, a catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets, were little changed as traders weighed a host of conflicting supply and demand worries, from rising tensions in the Middle East to cold weather woes disrupting U.S. production.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index eased 0.1%, hit by a 9.9% slide in MBC Group.
Public Investment Fund (PIF), the country's sovereign wealth fund, launched a $5 billion bond on Monday, capital markets publication IFR reported.
In Abu Dhabi, the index was down 0.4%, weighed by a 0.6% fall in conglomerate International Holding.
Meanwhile, Dubai's main share index gained 0.4%, helped by a 8.9% rise in Mashreq Bank.
Separately, the United Arab Emirates president has issued a law establishing an artificial intelligence and advanced technology council, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said on Monday.
Elsewhere, U.S. and British forces carried out a fresh round of strikes targeting an underground storage site as well as missile and surveillance capabilities used by the Iran-aligned Houthi group.
The Qatari benchmark added 0.2%, with petrochemical maker Mesaieed Petrochemical advancing 3.4%.