Brevan Howard Asset Management has appointed Oualid Lahsini as chief executive officer of its Middle East business.
Lahsini, who was previously a partner at Ares Management Corp. and head of Middle East and Africa relationship management, will also head client partnerships in MENA and Asia for Brevan Howard, according to an emailed statement Monday. He will report to Natalie Faye Smith, head of strategy and the client partnership group.
The Jersey, Channel Islands-based investment firm, best known for macro trading and a recent push into digital assets, relocated co-founder Trifon Natsis to Abu Dhabi as part of the company’s plans to expand in the United Arab Emirates, which is becoming a hub in the region for hedge funds. Lahsini will also be based there.
The appointment follows efforts by Abu Dhabi to draw in more international foreign money and financial firms. Ray Dalio is setting up a branch of his family office in Abu Dhabi Global Market, the emirate’s international financial free zone, which has wooed a cadre of big hedge funds, venture capital firms and crypto companies this past year. In May, Abu Dhabi said it plans to expand ADGM tenfold to make it one of the world’s largest financial districts.
The UAE is already home to a number of alternative investors. Izzy Englander’s Millennium Management has a base in Dubai, while Michael Gelband’s ExodusPoint — one of the largest multi-strategy hedge funds — has also expanded to the emirate.
Read More: Dubai Is New Hedge Fund Hub as Millennium, ExodusPoint Move In
