Soud Ba'alawy Executive Chairman Dubai Group

Known for his strategic insights and entrepreneurial vision, Soud Ba’alawy has overseen the growth of Dubai Group and its local office network that spans from New York through London to Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong.
Mr. Ba’alawy was previously CEO of Dubai Investment Group and played a key role in its foundation and growth. He has more than 10 years of experience in banking and investment with Citigroup, and was the Vice President of Gulf Treasury in Citibank Dubai. He has also served as Chief Investment Officer of Dubai Internet City and as Vice President of The Executive Office.

He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK.

Board Membership and Affiliations:

Chairman and Board Member of the Executive Committee, Noor Islamic Bank
Chairman, Marfin Popular Bank
Chairman,Bank
Chairman and Board Member, Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX)
Vice Chairman of Marfin Investment Group
Vice Chairman and Board Member, Dubai Bank
Vice Chairman, Borse Dubai
Executive Committee Member, Dubai Holding
Chairman and Board Member of the Executive Committee, Noor Islamic Bank
Board Member, NASDAQ - OMX Group
Board Member, Dubai Financial Market
Board Member, Emirates Investment Authority
Board Member, du, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, PJSC
Chairman, Manzil, a non-profit centre for persons with special needs

Thomas S. Volpe Chief Executive Officer Dubai Group

A distinguished veteran in the investment industry, Thomas Volpe joined Dubai Group in January 2007. He is also the Founder and Managing Partner of Volpe Investments LLC, a private equity investment firm based in the Silicon Valley in California, USA.

Before joining Dubai Group, Mr. Volpe was the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Volpe Brown Whelan & Company (VBW), an international risk capital, asset management and investment banking firm focused on rapidly growing entrepreneurial companies in the technology and healthcare industries. After VBW was sold to Prudential Securities in 1999, and Mr. Volpe served as Chairman of the renamed Prudential Volpe Technology Group until 2001.

Mr. Volpe was also CEO, President and a Member of the Board of Directors of Hambrecht & Quist Incorporated, the world’s leading technology and healthcare focused venture capital and investment banking firm.

Mr. Volpe is a graduate of Harvard Business School (MBA), and the London School of Economics (M.Sc. Economics) and Harvard College (A.B. Economics).

Board Membership and Affiliations:

Board Member, TAIB Bank
Board Member, EFG Hermes
Board Member, Linear Technology Corporation
Board Member, Cyalume Technologies Inc.
Board Member, Kline Hawkes & Company
Board Member, The Jackson Laboratory
Chairman, Stockton Ports Baseball Club
Board Member, The California League of Professional Baseball

Fadel A.B. Al Ali Executive Chairman for Operations Dubai Holding

Fadel Al Ali has been with Dubai Holding since September 2004, where he joined as the Chief Financial Officer. Just a year later, he was promoted to Chief Operating Officer for Dubai Holding, before being appointed to the role of Executive Chairman for Operations in 2007. In his new role, Mr. Al Ali is responsible for providing strategic operational leadership for the group as well as ensuring the implementation of global best practices throughout the Group’s key portfolio drivers.

Mr. Al Ali began a long and successful career at Citibank, where he worked as a financial analyst. He was then promoted to UAE Consumer Credit Head in 2001. Three years later, he was appointed the UAE Head of Distribution.

Mr. Al Ali graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and System Engineering. He also holds a Certificate of Finance from the American University of Sharjah.

Board Membership and Affiliations:

Board Member, Dubai Holding
Board Member, Jumeirah Group
Board Member, Sama Dubai
Board Member, Dubai International Capital
Board Member, Dubai Group
Board Member, Dubai First
Board of Directors, Borse Dubai
Board of Directors, Dubai Mercantile Exchange
Non Executive Chairman and Board of Directors, Dubai Bank

Saeed Al Muntafiq Executive Chairman Tatweer

Saeed Al Muntafiq began his career with the Emirates Petroleum Products Company (EPPCO) where he last served as General Manager of EPPCO Lubricants. A founding member of the Dubai Technology, E-Commerce and Media Free Zone team, he has also held the positions of Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Media City, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Ideas Oasis, Chairman of the Board of Dubai Media City and Director General of the Dubai Development and Investment Authority (DDIA).

Mr. Al Muntafiq graduated from Schiller International University – UK, with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in International Relations, and Minor in Psychology. He also attended the Management Development Program at Harvard Business School in USA.

Board Membership and Affiliations:

Chairman of the Board, Young Arab Leaders (YAL)
Vice Chairman, Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for Young Business Leaders.
Board Member, Dubai Group

Francis Finlay Chairman and CEO Clay Finlay Inc.

Clay Finlay Inc., a New York-based institutional investment management firm with offices in Europe and Asia, was co-founded by Francis Finlay in 1982.

Earlier, Mr. Finlay held senior international investment management positions at Morgan Guaranty Trust in New York and Lazard Freres in New York and Paris, and was a member of the Investment Policy Committees of both institutions. He is a director of a number of investment companies, including the Scottish Investment Trust, SVG Capital, and the East Europe Development Fund.

Educated at Oxford University where he is an Honorary Fellow of Merton College, Mr. Finlay also served as an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Business 1981-1986.

Governor, London Business School
Governor, Ditchley Foundation
Trustee, British Museum
Director, EastWest Institute
International Advisory Board Member, Dubai International Financial Centre
International Advisory Board Member, EURONEXT

Miles Moorland Founder Blakeney Management

Miles Moorland founded Blakeney Management in 1990. Blakeney pioneered foreign investment in the markets of the Middle East and Africa.

In 1994, Blakeney’s Oryx Fund became the first non-Arab vehicle to be granted access to any of the Gulf markets. Today, it is thought to be the largest foreign portfolio investor in sub-Saharan Africa and in a number of markets in the Arab world.

Before starting Blakeney, Mr. Moorland spent 22 years in money management and investment banking in London and on Wall Street, his last job being head of First Boston's office in London in the 80s.

He is a director of SAB Miller plc, African Lakes Plc, the Social Security Bank of Ghana, and several emerging market funds. Until recently, he was Chair of London Business School’s Africa Advisory Board for five years.

After leaving Wall Street and before starting Blakeney, Mr. Moorland wrote The Man Who Broke Out Of The Bank. The book was published in 1992 by Bloomsbury, who ironically described him in the publicity for the book as “a middle-aged wreck”. Despite that, or perhaps because of it, the book was number five on the U.K. best seller list.

Mr. Moorland read Law at Oxford University for whom he also rowed in two winning Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race crews.

Robin Monro-Davies 

An industry veteran, Robin Monro-Davies has more than 30 years of experience in leading financial institutions in the US and the UK. In 1976, he was appointed Joint Chief Executive Officer of Fox-Pitt Kelton (FPK), one of the UK’s leading independent brokerage and research houses. In 1978, in addition to his role as FPK’s CEO he was appointed CEO of IBCA, FPK’s newly established independent bank credit rating business.

Following his retirement from FPK in 1992, he continued as CEO of IBCA, developing the business to become Fitch, the world’s third largest rating agency. He retired as CEO of Fitch at the end of 2001. In 2002 he was appointed Chairman of Mergermarket Limited which was sold to Pearson (the FT Group) in 2006. He is also the Chairman of two AIM listed investment trusts.

Monro-Davies holds a Master of Science degree in Business from Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Board Membership and Affiliations:

Board member, AXA UK
Board Member, AXA APH
Board Member, Assured Guaranty Limited
Board Member, HSBC Plc