QInvest, Qatar’s largest investment bank, announced this week that it has completed the hiring of its top team.
In around six months since he joined as QInvest’s CEO, Shahzad Shahbaz, himself a 25 year investment banking veteran of Bank of America, has succeeded in attracting some impressive talent to compliment the team already in place. This includes Head of Origination, Philippe Jouard, formerly CEO of Dexia’s Corporate and Private Banking division who has previous investment banking and wealth management experience in Credit Suisse, UBS and JP Morgan.
Rommie Bhutani and Anuj Khanna have joined as Co Heads of Principal Investments. Bhutani was previously a Co-Founder and CIO for Brevan Howard’s India Special Opportunities Fund and has a leveraged finance and financial sponsor coverage background working internationally with Bank of America, Credit Suisse and DLJ. Khanna, previously a Co-Founder and Partner of New York based Yucaipa Global Partnership Fund formed by former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Yucaipa, has over 16 years international experience in corporate / leveraged finance and capital markets experience with CIBC, Bankers Trust/Deutsche Bank and Drexel Burnham Lambert.
Asar Mashkoor has joined as Head of QInvest’snewly created Financing and Advisory business. Formerly Head of Capital Markets, Structured Finance and Advisory with Dubai based NBD Investment Bank, he brings 13 years of international experience in investment banking with Merrill Lynch as Head of European Restructuring and Liability Management, and earlier Telecom sector Investment Banking experience with both Merrill and HSBC.
Former Head of Islamic Finance and DCM at NBD Investment Bank Faiz Nassim joins asHead of Structured Finance. Nassim’s 14 years of investment banking experience has a strong Islamic finance flavor, working in the region with Dubai Islamic Bank as Head of Syndications & Institutional Sales, and earlier with Kuwait Finance House leading various Islamic finance initiatives.
The most recent addition to the senior team from RBS Coutts is Nader Shenouda, QInvest’s new Head of Placement and Distribution. Shenouda brings strong investor client expertise having been Coutts’ Executive Vice President for their Middle East business, and earlier with Merrill Lynch, focusing on ultra high net worth, family office and institutional clients – key client segments for QInvest.
Commenting on the hires, Shahbaz said: "I am delighted with the talent we’ve attracted, which represents both global and regional knowledge and strong product sector expertise. Our team is entrepreneurial and driven particularly by the challenges of building a business which positions us strongly to pursue the significant opportunities available."