Chief Investment Officer of Emirates NBD Private Bank. Emirates NBD is the largest Bank in the Middle East. From May 2010 - July 2011 I was the acting General Manager (GM) of the Private Bank during which the Private Bank was ranked by Euromoney No 8 in the MENA region up from 19th in 2010. As GM of the Private Bank I was responsible for the day to to day management of the bank and setting the strategic vision. I led the implementation of a new back office back bond system, led a major launch of the Private Banking brand in the regional market.In my CIO role I was responsible for the investment proposition for the bank, investment selection, strategic and tactical asset allocation, discretionary and advisory portfolio management

CIO of the EMEA Wealth Management businessI was responsible for the investment content of both discretionary and advisory propositions. I am building a new team from scratch to provide investment leadership on all asset classes. EMEA has the only discretionary book of business in the Global Wealth business for Merrill Lynch with a value of about £10bn. I built a new investment process for the business with a mixture of quant and qualitative inputs. The CIO team was responsible for the management of all model portfolios and new investment propositions. I added a new layer of added value called smart investing where we spend a good deal of time analysing the most appropriate investment vehicle to use in each asset class. Key achievementsMade a major bear call on the pending problems for the markets in August 2007, and called the low of the markets on March 17th 2009. Alpha from TAA over two tears was been between 75bps and 300bps per annum depending on mandate. As in previous roles I spend a good deal of time with clients, running the business, and in fostering good relationships with the media. In January 2009 I was runner up in the Wealth briefing Investor of the Year poll.

Initially I was responsible for the restructuring of a team of 110 people covering all of the asset classes including equities bonds currencies, alternatives assets, fund research, strategic and tactical asset allocation, together with communications and IT departments. The investment businesses are responsible for all model portfolios for discretionary accounts, advisory, and investment content of Wealth management products. We also have primary responsibility for investment management of the multi-manager retail product platform. The multi manager product has grown from launch in October 2004 to become the largest in the UK and second largest in Europe. After completing the restructuring of my teams I have narrowed my responsibilities back to the pure investment office for fixed income equities, and investment strategy and we have created a new department of alternative investments and I moved all non investment people into the Chief operating officers office.Key AchievementsRestructuring the investment division hiring a new team of asset class leadersDeveloped and documented new investment processes for each asset classManaged the multi-manager investment platformEstablished a new strategic asset allocation team to develop the client propositionInvestment teams have achieved top quartile performance in equity selection and asset allocationBuilt from scratch a suite of investment communications for clientsDeveloped a regular road-show on investment topics for clients in Asia, Africa and the UKThe ‘face of Barclays Wealth’ for media and client events

I initially worked for JPMorgan securities as their European equity market strategist. In 1999 I joined JPMorgan Investment Management as a Global Strategist and head of Global Balanced Group for Europe Middle East, Africa and Asia. I also worked with the Private Bank for the whole 11 years.Called the top of the tech boomRebuilt the asset allocation processOur team were awarded Balanced Product Team of the year by S&P for 2004Our conservative strategy won product of the year from S&P in 2004Tactical asset allocation decisions outperformed the benchmark, Managed a global equity portfolio that was 700 basis point ahead of the benchmark since inception Rebuilt and repositioned the balanced product, including the development of new products.Key part of the client acquisition team in the Private banking business. I had regular contact and road-shows with the Private Banking sales team, and dealt with some very high profile Private banking clients.Published in academic journal on absolute return strategy, and made presentations to Bocconi Business School students and staff on portable alpha.