Brian Baker is a Managing Director with PIMCO LLC and Chief Executive Officer and Director of the firm’s Hong Kong office, PIMCO Asia Ltd. He is responsible for overseeing servicing of PIMCO’s institutional client relationships and business development in the region. Mr. Baker is also co-Head of PIMCO's official institution business where he oversees globally PIMCO's investment services to central banks, sovereign wealth funds, and supranational organizations. Mr. Baker joined PIMCO in 1997, previously having been associated with The Bank of Montreal as a vice president managing North American institutional client relationships. He has twenty years of investment experience, earned his bachelor’s degree from The George Washington University with a distinction in international finance, and an MBA with a specialization in finance, economics, and international business from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Arvind Bansal brings to ING Investment Management India, rich experience of over 10 years in investments & corporate finance. At ING IM India, he is responsible for overseeing the Multi Manager Investment function. In addition, he is a key member of the Management Committee and also provides key inputs in the areas of conceptualization & design of Multi Manager Products. Before taking the responsibility of a CIO for multi-manager products at ING IM, he was instrumental in setting up the off-shore fund in Mauritius. An engineer by training, Arvind holds an MBA from the Indian School of Business.

Stephane Battistella started his career 12 years ago with Baring Asset Management France, achieving the position of Head of institutional business development. He then joined Schroders in 2000 in order to launch activities on the French market, opening an office in Paris, and becoming one of the leading foreign investment managers in France. In April 2007 Stephane was appointed Head of the Middle East Business Development, and relocated to Dubai. He's responsible for sales and client servicing for institutional and professional investors including Family Offices and Private Banks.

Harshendu Bindal is Senior Director - CEEMEA for Franklin Templeton Investments since January 2006. In this capacity, Mr. Bindal is responsible for Franklin Templeton’s sales & business development activities in the Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) region. Prior to this, Harshendu Bindal joined Franklin Templeton as Regional Sales Manager in Mumbai, India in 1997 from Birla Global Finance Ltd. In 2000, he relocated to Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. as General Manager - Middle East, with the responsibility for establishing the firm’s presence in the Gulf & Eastern Mediterranean regions. He then took over an additional responsibility as the Head of NRI - Product Development and for the Central & Eastern European region in 2003. In November 2004, Mr. Bindal successfully obtained a license under the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) after which the office relocated to Dubai. He then established a Sales team as the Director - Sales & Business Development, successfully building Franklin Templeton’s retail business in various countries across the region. Mr. Bindal is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). He has also received a Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) degree and a Masters in Financial Management (M.F.M.) from the University of Mumbai.

Since June 2007 Brad has been the Chief Economist at Jadwa investment Company in Riyadh. He is also Head of Proprietary Investments, and sits on the Management Committee. Brad publishes regularly on issues related to the Saudi and global economies and the world oil market. He appears frequently in the domestic and international media and is a regular public speaker. For nine years prior to joining Jadwa, Brad was the Chief Economist at Samba Financial Group, formerly Saudi American Bank, in Riyadh. At Samba he was also head of cross-border risk management for the bank, which involved managing the bank’s exposures outside Saudi Arabia. Before joining Samba, Brad spent an 18-year career as diplomat, economist, and manager with the U.S. Department of State. During the last three years of his diplomatic career he was in Riyadh as the American Embassy’s First Secretary responsible for financial affairs, where he analyzed the Saudi economy for the U.S. Government and conducted financial aspects of US-Saudi relations. Brad served on the US negotiating team for Saudi accession to the World Trade Organization. Brad has his BA and MA magna cum laude from the University of Utah, and is a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) charterholder.

Mr. Abu Bakar Chowdhury is most recently working as a Senior Advisor with Credit Suisse Group, Australia, where his role, as a consultant, was instrumental in re-organizing its Equity Research (Listed Property Trusts) franchise in Australia. Prior to this, he was an Investment Analyst at Deutsche Bank Group, Australia, for four years and was responsible for analyzing and structuring infrastructure, real estate and asset backed investments across a range of products-listed securities, wholesale and private capital. Preceding that, Mr. Chowdhury was with Westpac Banking Corporation, Australia for six years in Corporate Banking, Structured Finance and Wholesale Investment Management. Mr. Chowdhury is a graduate and associate member of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and holds post graduate degrees in Economics and Finance. He is on the Board of EMPME and is an Alternate Director on the Board of TAV for the IDB Fund.

Oliver has wide experience in the MENA region having worked in both the private and public sectors. From a background in project finance at British Arab Commercial Bank, part of the HSBC Group, he went on to the British Ministry of Defence as an advisor embedded with coalition forces in Iraq. He joined the Oxford Business Group in 2004 as a Country Editor, becoming Regional Editor in 2007. In this capacity, he is now in charge of web and print editorial across the GCC. At the same time, he writes a weekly column on the region and regularly appears as a specialist on the Gulf on television and radio, including Al-Arabiya and the BBC. Oliver has undertaken interviews with many prominent individuals. Recently these have included King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia, Amr Moussa, Secretary General of the Arab League, President Bill Clinton, Colin Powell, former US Secretary of Sate, Ali Al-Naimi, Saudi Arabian Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources; HRH Duke of York; The Baroness Symons of Verham Dean; Richard Armitage, US Senator; Lee Kwan Yew, former Prime Minister of Singapore; David Rubenstein, managing Director of Carlyle Group. Oliver has spoken at a number of conferences and international dialogue sessions, including the 2006 US-Arab Economic Forum in Houston, Texas. He holds a Ba. (Hons) degree in Arabic with Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies from Durham University.

Anthony Diamandakis is a Director of Credit Suisse, Investment Banking, in London, and is primarily responsible for international private equity and direct investment activities driven out of Credit Suisse's Middle East and emerging markets client base. He has worked for Credit Suisse in London, New York and Chicago, with significant transaction experience across a wide variety of industry sectors and corporate finance products. Over the course of his career he has focused on the structuring and execution of complex public and private M&A advisory and debt and equity capital markets transactions. He joined Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in 1997 (subsequently acquired by Credit Suisse) and holds a BA from The University of Chicago.

Dr. Tilak Doshi is an industry expert with over 15 years of international experience in leading oil and gas companies, Dr.Tilak Doshi joined DMCC as Executive Director for Energy. Dr. Doshi was a Consultant for Saudi Aramco in its crude marketing and corporate planning department. He has also held senior positions as Director of Industry Analysis at the Atlantic Richfield Company in Los Angeles, and Chief Energy Economist at the Unocal Corporation’s Asia office in Singapore. As Executive Director for the energy sector, Dr.Doshi serves to intensify links between DMCC and the energy industry. He is in charge of promoting oil & gas infrastructure projects whilst providing innovative concepts to facilitate the growth of the energy business in Dubai.

Omar Farooqui, Vice President, Sales & Distribution. Omar comes to Algebra Capital with 9 years experience in the Asset Management field in the Middle East. Prior to joining Algebra, he was a Vice President at Deutsche Asset Management, covering the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia exclusively. Omar was responsible for raising significant AUMs for their mutual fund business. Previously, Omar spent 7 years at National Commercial Bank, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, managing funds and structuring products. As a Fund Manager, he was responsible for managing Islamic money market funds. Omar holds a Masters in Financial Structuring from University of Surrey, and a BBA (double major) in Management and Marketing from the American Intercontinental University.

Ms Fitzgerald joined Shuaa Capital in August 2006. With 16 years experience in Mutual Fund Sales and Marketing, she is responsible for Sales and Client Services for both our regional and International clients. Her previous experience includes tenures with organizations such as HSBC, Towry Law International and Abbey National plc. She has been based in the Middle East since 1998, originally in Bahrain and more recently Dubai. Ms. Fitzgerald is also qualified as an CII Advisor from the UK and has provided Investment advice to both regional and International clients throughout her career.

Lionel Fretz is an expert in the carbon and clean energy markets. He founded Carbon Capital Markets® in 2005, and has overseen its rapid growth to date. He is a founder of EcoSecurities and Climate Change Capital. Lionel is a Corporate Finance specialist by background, with fifteen years experience with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Nikko Securities Group and Chase Manhattan bank. He also served on the Advisory Board of Trading Emissions Plc, the world’s largest private sector carbon fund, and on the Board of the Emissions Trading Group, the UK industry body. Career History 2004 to date: Chief Executive Officer, Carbon Capital Markets 2002-2004: Founder & Executive Director, Climate Change Capital 1998-2002: Group Director, EcoSecurities Group 1992-1997: Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance 1986-1992: Manager, Nikko Securities Group 1985-1986: Graduate Trainee, Chase Manhattan Group

Deborah A. Fuhr, Executive Director, Investment Strategies at Morgan Stanley in London is responsible for Investment Strategies which covers the analysis and comparison of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) around the world, futures, swaps, certificates and, OPALS Optimised Portfolios As Listed Securities. Ms Fuhr works with institutional clients helping them to Implement Asset Allocation using alternative products. In the 2003 and 2004 International Fund Investment IFI and in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 Greenwich Associates survey of institutional investors in Europe ranked Morgan Stanley first for ETF strategy. Previously from 1997 - 2001 she was Global Head of Marketing and Sales for OPALS and Exchange Traded Funds to accounts in Europe.

Emmanuel joined the DFSA in May 2006 as a Senior Manager in the Authorisation Division and was promoted to Associate Director, Supervision in July 2007. He is responsible for the risk-based Supervision of Authorised Firms in particular, Collective Investment Funds (CIF) and Asset Management companies. Prior to joining the DFSA, he held a senior position at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) as a Lawyer and Manager in Compliance and Supervision covering in particular, Collective Investment Funds. He has practised as a lawyer for over 12 years and was admitted to the Bar in Australia in 1994.

Mr. Hassan is a former Senior Advisor of the World Bank, where he served in increasingly responsible positions over a 15 year period, from 1992-2007. The Bank has more than 10,000 staff in over 100 countries. It approves around $25 billion in loans and grants for about 300 projects annually, and has about $65-70 billion in assets under management. Among Mr. Hassan’s eventual roles included working with the Board and top management on fiduciary and operational oversight of the Bank’s global corporate strategy, credit risk, corporate finance and budget functions. Mr. Hassan is serving on boards as an advisor and strategist. He is working with a fund-of-funds, investing in emerging and frontier markets. He also is a partner in a 42-year old privately held finance and information holding company, expanding into sovereign wealth funds and Islamic finance. Mr. Hassan started his career with Citibank in New York, and Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Washington, D.C. He also served as Founder & CEO of a finance/technology start-up. Mr. Hassan has attended the Harvard Business School/World Bank Executive Program, and the Amsterdam Institute of Finance. He did his graduate work at Johns Hopkins/SAIS, and undergraduate work at Reed College and the University of Karachi/IBA, Pakistan.

Mr. Harajchi is the CEO & Founder of N1 Fund and has over 10 years of experience in the financial field. Before establishing N1 Fund, Mr. Harajchi joined K1 Global Ltd in 2003 as Regional Director of Sales for the K1 Global Ltd. Shortly after, he founded K1 Fund Distribution Ltd; the exclusive distribution company for K1 Fund and K1 Asset Management Ltd. During that assignment, Mr. Harajchi's responsibilities included management, up and and portfolio building strengthening new existing regional distribution channels, and creating strategic alliances and partnership. Believing that investors of the East would welcome K1 as an alternative investment product, Mr. Harajchi set for course to Hong Kong. After two years of building relationships and introducing K1 products to different parties all across Asia, Nicu had successfully managed to raise over 300 million USD. These include distribution through institutions such as banks, securities houses and other well recognized high net worth advisers. After working closing with many counter parties across Asia and realizing the nature of different Asian investors, Mr. Harajchi then went on to create a new line of funds that catered to a variety of investor’s demands with the goal to give clients first class service in the hedge fund industry. This included featuring an online chat function which offered direct access to our sales representatives to give clients the feeling of closer the N1 to always be latest developments, as being to team and in the loop with well as an online login to be able to view their investment positions. Ultimately, Mr. Harajchi aims to promote N1 fund as an interactive client oriented hedge fund that promotes company and investment transparency. Currently Mr. Harajchi acts as chief portfolio manager of N1 Global Fund and sits on the board of the investment committee. As portfolio manager, Mr. Harajchi is responsible for actively building the portfolio, conducting stringent risk management, and carrying out strict due diligence procedures of the underlying managers, as well as constantly monitoring the portfolio for investment opportunities.

Khuram Hussain; After graduating with honors in Economics & Accountancy Mr. Hussain began his career as an Analyst with Guardian Investment Holdings. He then joined Ermgassen & Co. a leading European Cross Border Corporate Finance boutique in London. At Ermgassen & Co. he progressed to the post of Senior Trader and the Assistant Fund Manager for an Absolute US Equity Hedge Fund. Whilst at Ermgassen he completed his Investment Management Exams (IMC). Prior to becoming a Partner at Tabarak he was the Chief Executive Officer for iHilal Financial Services where he structured and launched some of the most innovative products in Islamic Finance. In addition, he has been responsible for Equity trading in London for a proprietary trading firm and is a General Securities Principal (Series 7, 55 and 24). He is also a Director for the Standard Bank-Tricon Trade Finance Fund.

Stephen Jen is a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and serves as the Global Head of Currency Research for the firm. He is based in London. Prior to joining the firm in October 1996, Stephen spent four years as an economist with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, D.C. In addition, Stephen was actively involved in the design of the IMF’s framework to provide debt relief to highly indebted countries. Stephen has also worked for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and the World Bank, and has been a lecturer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Georgetown University School of Business. Stephen holds a PhD in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with concentrations in International Economics and Monetary Economics. He also earned a BSc in Electrical Engineering (summa cum laude) from the University of California at Irvine.

Amaury Junior – Founding Partner and CIO - Amaury holds a PhD from MIT in Engineering and Applied Mathematics and an MSc and BSc from PUC Rio. Prior to Vision Brazil, his professional experience has included: (1) Founding Partner and CIO of Capitania Asset & Risk Management; (2) Managing Director, Head Trader, and Treasurer for Bank of America in Brazil; (3) Head of Brazilian FX and Derivatives Market Making and Head of Brazilian Fixed Income at JP Morgan in Brazil; (4) G7 Proprietary Trading, Mortgage Backed Securities Strategy, Derivatives and Advanced Technology Research at JP Morgan in New York; and (5) consultant in mathematical modeling and numerical algorithms for Thinking Machines Corporation, a US supercomputer manufacturer, and for several large US oil and gas companies. In addition to his professional activities, he conducts research as Professor of Risk Management at FGV in Sao Paulo. Amaury holds patents in the field of financial data visualization, and has published articles in international journals and financial magazines. Amaury is currently a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of ANDIMA, the National Association of Securities Dealers in Brazil

Farzam Kamalabadi, a Persian American, born and raised in Iran, educated in Boston, now residing in Shanghai China for over a decade, is one of the very few personalities widely acclaimed both by the Chinese media and also recognized by the China government leadership at large as a true "China Hand" and a leading authority on China. In 1993, he established Future Trends International (Group) Corporation, a China specialist US Corporation engaged in investment and trade consulting, oil and gas and energy, government lobbying, and so on. A well known figure in the oil and gas and energy sector in China, Farzam Kamalabadi has also served in various capacities for business development or as Senior Advisor to a number of national oil systems in the Middle East, and has successfully concluded various oil and petrochemical trading deals and projects such as securing oil exploration rights or concessions for specific clients.

Vipul joined Citibank India as the Product Manager for Credit Cards & Consumer Banking in the year 1991. He was responsible for developing value added features on the Diners club card for Citibank India, the first credit card in India. He subsequently held the position of the Investment Product Development Manger based out of Mumbai, India and was responsible for the first partnerships with Asset management companies for 3rd party fund distribution through the banking channel. He subsequently moved to Dubai as the Head of Sales for the NRI investments division & thereafter held senior regional positions including the NRI Business Head for the northern GCC countries based in Bahrain and more recently as the Area Director for the NRI Business for the Middle East. Last year he took over as the Global Sales & Distribution Head of the Non Resident Indian (NRI) business for Citibank and is responsible for all the regions including Asia, Middle East & Africa, UK and the Americas, where the NRI business has presence. Vipul holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta, India, as well as Chartered Accountancy and Cost and Management Accountancy degrees from India. He holds all India level ranks in the Chartered & Cost accountancy and is a Gold Medalist in Cost & Management Accountancy for being 1st in India in Accounting. Born in Calcutta, India in the year 1967, Vipul lives in Dubai with his wife Anjali and daughter Anaya.

Dr. Kiernan is Founder and Chief Executive of Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, Inc., an international investment research and advisory firm based in New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Sydney, San Francisco and Tokyo. Innovest’s clients include several of the leading institutional investors in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Innovest’s largest outside investor is ABP, one of the largest and most highly respected pension funds in the world. Innovest has been rated the #1 firm in the world in its field in both 2006 and 2007 by the Thomson Extel survey of global institutional investors. Innovest has been active in the “climate change” investment space since 1995. Innovest has conducted all of the global company research and analysis for the Carbon Disclosure Project for each of the five years since its inception. The CDP is an unprecedented collaboration among institutional investors with combined assets under management of over $40 trillion. Innovest also launched the world's first climate risk-adjusted bond index in 2007, in partnership with J.P. Morgan. In late 2007, Dr. Kiernan received a special award from the UN Environment Program’s Finance Initiative for innovation and leadership in the emerging field of carbon finance. Prior to founding Innovest, Dr. Kiernan had served as Director of the Geneva-based Business Council for Sustainable Development, where he led the group’s initial capital markets task force. The Group served as Principal Business and Industry Advisor to the U.N. Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Prior to that he had served as a senior partner with KPMG Peat Marwick, one of the world’s leading business and financial consultancies. Dr. Kiernan has also lectured in executive programs at the Wharton School, Columbia Business School, and Oxford University. He holds advanced degrees in political science and environmental studies, as well as a Ph.D. in strategic environmental management from the University of London. He is a frequent contributor to leading business and investment journals, and his first book, The 11 Commandments of 21st Century Management, was published by Prentice-Hall and has been translated into eight languages. His new book on “sustainable investing” will appear in late 2008.

Steven W. Koinis, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Makan Capital Group. Makan Capital Group, (MCG), is a premier, Sharia’a compliant, private equity firm in the GCC region generating superior investment products and real estate opportunities. The Firm’s strategy is to focus on the banking, commercial, residential, hospitality and tourism sectors while capitalizing on its significant network of resources, assets and partnerships. MCG is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, UAE, with offices in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Newport Beach, California (US.) Mr. Koinis is a results-driven global private equity/real estate executive with success in international private equity, real estate, hospitality, investment banking, underperforming assets and turnarounds. Currently, Makan has significant assets under management in the real estate sector throughout the Middle East and North America, through its development vehicle MCG Land and the Makan Property Development Fund. Prior to joining Makan, Mr. Koinis was CEO of Al Qudra Holding, PJSC, where the firm achieved nearly triple digit returns on equity on an annualized basis and balance sheet growth exceeding USD 1 billion. Mr. Koinis also has been a senior executive at Abu Dhabi Investment Company in Abu Dhabi. Mr. Koinis earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and has over 20 years of Middle East, European and US experience in all areas of company leadership, expansion and mergers & acquisitions. He has successfully managed companies ranging in sales from $5 million to $200 million and enterprise value of $10 million to $1 billion. Mr. Koinis has increased enterprise value in different entities by nearly $1 billion cumulatively, grown companies from start up to over 1000 employees and raised over $1,000 million in the public and private equity capital markets in the US, Europe and Middle East. His expertise spans finance, P&L management, operations, M&A, business development, contract negotiations and strategic planning. He has also held NASD Series 7, 24 and 63 securities licenses.

Mr. Mark Kooijman graduated from Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands with a M.Sc. in Finance. During his academic career he was involved in various activities within the China Center for European Cooperation and as visiting scholar (international finance) at the Fudan University in Shanghai. Upon graduation, Mr. Mark Kooijman joined ABN AMRO Bank (London) responsible for EM Structured Products (Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East, Central America and Caribbean). Subsequently, he joined Deutsche Bank (London) where he was responsible for all Global Market (Fixed Income) Products for Central & Eastern Europe as Vice President Global Markets. Thereafter, he worked as investment officer Asia for FMO and completed a series of investments in China. Mr. Mark Kooijman has completed over 30 transactions (derivatives, debt, and equity) across Eastern Europe, Central America, the Caribbean and Asia and has an in-depth knowledge of financial products/structuring and investment analysis.

Mohieddine Kronfol is the Managing Director of the Asset Management with over 10 years of relevant experience in financial services including a 3 year track record in regional fixed income markets and founding roles in 3 start up businesses. Prior to committing to Algebra Capital, Mohieddine was a founding partner at HYPHEN, a Beirut based asset management company. He negotiated one of the region's first prime brokerage accounts and set up the infrastructure to trade 3 global hedge funds and manage a fund of hedge funds. HYPHEN was also on the Investment Committee of Quilvest MEA, a subsidiary of Quilvest which managed over USD 6 billion in assets. Prior to joining HYPHEN, Mohieddine was the Head of SHUAA Capital's Debt Asset Management Department as well as the Fund Manager of The Arab Income Fund (TAIF). TAIF traded emerging market and exotic debt as well as local and foreign currency debt in the MENA region. Mohieddine was also Head of SHUAA Capital's Capital Markets department where he managed investments globally in FX, commodity, interest rate and equity markets, including related cash, futures and options securities. Products included leveraged CLN notes on regional credits, alternative investments with UBP (today the 2nd largest hedge fund platform), commodity mining and exploration portfolios as well equity and commodity linked capital guaranteed products. Prior to joining SHUAA Capital in August 2000, Mohieddine was a Senior Associate at Middle East Capital Group (MECG), a Beirut based investment bank with a regional focus. At MECG (1996-2000), Mohieddine worked on all legal, structure, financial and IT phases of an auto loan securitization mandate (together with the IFC). He also traded Arab equities, fixed income, structured products (Collateralized Bond and Loan obligations in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan), and was a licensed broker on the Beirut Stock Exchange. Mohieddine traded international convertible bond issues and positioned MECG as one of the most active regional players in that space. Mohieddine is currently a Director of North South Shari'a Compliant Fund. He holds a Bachelors degree in Business Administration and an MBA from the American University of Beirut.

Mandagolathur R. Raghu joined Markaz in September 2006 as Senior Vice President - Research from Wealth Management Group where he served as Director of Investment Management. Prior to that, he worked for CCFI, Saudi Arabia in the area of investment research and advisory. He has over 20 years of experience with specialization in investment analysis and research. Bachelor of Commerce - Loyola College (Chennai, India) AICWA CFA Charterholder - CFA Institute (USA) FRM - Global Association for Risk Professionals (USA)

Abrar Mir is the Managing Partner of NBD Sana Capital, a sector focused private equity fund. Abrar Mir is a senior investment professional with over eighteen years financial industries and private equity experience. He has led private equity transactions with an aggregate value of over $40 billion and financings (equity and debt) of over $30 billion. Abrar’s international experience has included leading several high profile private equity transactions in the US, Europe and several Emerging Markets (including the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and India). He has played a leadership role in a diverse range of transactions ranging from highly successful investments in large leveraged buy outs, corporate carve-outs of non-core assets, expansion capital investments in fast growth companies, to investments in turn-around / special situations. Abrar’s investment philosophy is driven by a disciplined focus on fundamentals, strong industry knowledge, optimal financial engineering and a basic belief in backing the best management teams. Prior to joining NBD Sana Capital, Abrar was a Managing Director at Bank of America Securities in London. Whilst there, Abrar was part of the senior leadership team that significantly expanded the bank’s private equity strategy and was responsible for driving one of its international industry groups. Before that, Abrar was at Salomon Smith Barney (Citigroup), where he led several important Mergers & Acquisition, Equity Capital Market and Debt Capital Markets transactions. He is also a qualified international finance lawyer. Abrar holds an M.A. in Law and M.Phil degree in International Law from the University of Cambridge. He is also fluent in five languages.

Christian R. Mouchbahani was appointed in 2006, as Chief Executive Officer of Jefferies Middle East & North Africa, Mr. Mouchbahani is in charge of the development and growth of the firm’s regional and international franchise in the region. Mr. Mouchbahani can draw on many years of investment banking, merchant banking, private equity and asset management experience, having held several senior regional and international positions in the Middle East, US and Europe. Prior to Jefferies, Mr. Mouchbahani was the Head of Investment Banking and Management Board Member of Dubai Bank, where he successfully directed the bank’s entry into merchant banking, investment banking and Islamic Finance. Before Dubai Bank, he was Managing Director at TNI, an investment banking and private equity firm, where he drove the firm through trend setting ideas and expanding the firm’s product and geographic reach. Among other assignments, Mr. Mouchbahani was a Director of Corporate Finance Mergers & Acquisitions at BNP Paribas in London and Paris; and a Director at Paribas in New York, where he was responsible for cross-border merchant banking, LBO and private equity transactions. In 2006, he had also been nominated to head at Governmental level the position of Secretary General of the Privatization Commission of Lebanon. He holds a BS in Economics from New York University, MBA from Columbia Business School and is fluent in English, Arabic, French and German.

Hussain Najado is the founding President of Davos Management Institute, in Davos, Switzerland. www.davosmi.org and Chairman & CEO of AIAK Group, www.aiakswiss.com in Kuala Lumpur, founded the Arab Malaysian Banking Group (AMBG), www.ambg.com.my now AMBANK GROUP. Past Director of MIDF in Malaysia. He was also the founder and former Director of EURO-ASIAN CENTER AT INSEAD, France, and was the first Chairman of developing countries gathering at Davos Economic Symposium (now known as WEF). He was for 6 years the President of Supramar AG, Switzerland, the world inventor and licensor of the first commercially operating hydrofoils in four continents. Najadi has been Keynote Speaker at many events and has also chaired the First Islamic School, Davos, Switzerland in July 2005.

Kostas Nikolopoulos is a Vice President in the Carbon Finance team and has completed CDM transactions in China and India and is responsible for CCC’s Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan business. Before CCC, he worked in O&G Project Finance and as a Corporate Finance lawyer. Kostas holds a MA from SAIS the Johns Hopkins University (distinction), a BBA from the American College of Thessaloniki ( honours) and a LLB from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Thomas Pang is responsible for the overall management and operation of Gulf Fund Management Limited. Prior to joining Gulf Fund Management Limited, Mr. Pang was Director (Finance) of The Link Management Limited, the manager of The Link Real Estate Investment Trust, the first REIT publicly listed and traded on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. It was the largest REIT IPO globally, raising about US$ 3 billion. As a government privatisation programme, it acquired 180 properties from the Hong Kong government. After the listing, Mr Pang help The Link REIT to obtain investment grade ratings from Standard & Poor and Moody’s, and successfully refinanced its USD1.6 billion debt by a HKD3.6 billion bond (the largest ever HKD corporate bond), a HKD5 billion syndicated loan and a HKD4 billion sale of mortgage loan. Mr Pang is an Oxford graduate, a qualified Chartered Accountant and a securities market professional. He started his career with KPMG, having worked in their financial audit, computer audit and management consultancy divisions. He also has extensive experience working for the Hong Kong regulators (The Securities and Futures Commission and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, “HKEx”). While at HKEx, he worked as the Assistant Director in the Chief Executive Office and Growth Enterprise Market (“GEM”). He participated in various significant projects such as the merger and listing of HKEx, launch of the Hong Kong Tracker Fund, dual trading of Nasdaq stocks and approval of stocks to be listed on GEM. Before joining The Link REIT, Mr Pang was the Managing Director of a corporate finance adviser which successfully assisted Chinese companies to raise international funding and seek listings on HKEx.

Ahmad Rizwan is a lawyer by training and qualified as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Malaysian High Court since 1993. He obtained his LL.B (Hons) from UiTM, Malaysia and also holds a Master of Laws specializing in Alternative Dispute Resolution from Bond University, Australia in 1995. As a practicing lawyer in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for many years Ahmad Rizwan practiced in the field of international banking/financing transactions and Islamic banking and finance, Alternative Dispute Resolution, corporate transactions including cross borders IPO’s including the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (as it was then known) and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, domestic and international M & A’s. In 2001, he went in-house to become the Deputy General Manager for an anchor banking group in Malaysia whereby Ahmad Rizwan supervised and managed the Legal & Corporate Advisory Division of the said banking group. Ahmad Rizwan had in 2007 moved to Dubai, UAE to take up the post as the Head of Execution & Legal for an investment banking outfit licensed and based in the Dubai International Financial Centre. In early 2008 saw Ahmad Rizwan moving to the leading international UAE law practice of Habib Al Mulla & Company as a Senior Lawyer for its Banking & Finance (Islamic) Department at its Dubai practice. Over the years he has participated and spoke at various Islamic Banking & Finance international lectures and conferences with the most recent being the 3rd Annual Islamic Finance IQ Asia in Singapore (21st-24th January 2008) on the topic of “Resolving Legal Dispute In Islamic Banking & Finance-Alternative Dispute Resolution as A Primary Source” and the 2nd Annual Islamic Funds Asia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (10th-13th March 2008) with a talk on “Sukuk And Legal Aspects”. Ahmad Rizwan has authored various external as well as internal articles with the realm of Islamic banking & finance as well as on investment within the Middle East including (most recent works): - Sukuk: The Legal Mechanisms -Islamic Finance News Magazine (2008); - Dispute Resolution in Islamic Banking & Finance (2008); - Dubai-The Gateway of Investments Between Asia & the GCC (2007); - IPO in the GCC-How it works (2007). He is also currently contributing towards two (2) books set to be released in the later part of 2008 on “International Offshore Tax Havens” and “Issues in Islamic Banking & Finance-Selected Articles”.

Jamal M. Saleh is an Arab-American banker who has been in the banking industry for 17 years, the first 10 of which were in New York, USA, in Private Banking and Asset Management. In addition, his experience covers Credit, Corporate Banking, Project Finance and, presently, Risk Management and Basel II. He graduated valedictorian (summa cum laude) from the United States, and is the holder of 5 professional certifications. He is presently heading Risk Management at Commercial Bank of Dubai (UAE) and is responsible for the implementation of Basel 2 and has been given ownership for the formulation of full-fledged risk management plans for Credit, Market and Operational Risk Management, for which he has received the "Certificate of Excellence" Award. He is the designer of a range of in-house ad-hoc risk management tools for Credit, Market and Operational Risk, as well as the co-lead person on several bankwide strategic-level reengineering projects for Data Cleaning, Data Warehousing, Automation, Centralization, and setup of full-fledged ERM across the bank.. Mr. Saleh is frequent speaker at local, regional and international risk management forums, and is a regular guest TV and newspapers on the issues of risk management, Basel II, local and regional Islamic and conventional banking, and GCC stock markets.

Mr. Gurmit is widely recognized as one of the top authorities in business strategy and business development with a keen eye on alternative energies. He received his MBA from Southern Cross University, Australia and his expertise and professionalism is highly regarded in Business and Industry. He has over 25 years of hands on international management, business consulting, training and marketing experience and his rich background has given him an edge in working with entrepreneurs and businesses. Widely traveled, he keeps well-informed and constantly updated on the current trends in private equity and venture capital, globalization and the energy and financial markets around the world. Abundance Venture Capital, a Private Equity & Venture Capital firm, was founded by Gurmit S. Sidhu, to propel businesses towards greater growth and excellence. He actively supports his clients in maximizing value in their businesses and works with business owners to unlock hidden values and increase their wealth by funding, building and exiting their firms in creative and strategic ways.

Nigel has worked in the financial services for over 25 years. Prior to joining Thames River Capital during 2007 Nigel headed up Mellon’s office in Dubai and was responsible for helping to make them one of the most successful Western asset management companies in the Middle East. Nigel has previously worked for Newton, which was acquired by Mellon, NatWest Unit Trust Managers, HSBC Asset Management and Framlington Based in the Middle East since 2001, Nigel is a high profile member of the Middle East's financial services community and a regular contributor to various newspapers and magazines published in the GCC Nigel went to Oxford Brookes University, is married with two children

Mr. Rehan Syed is the Head of Portfolio Management for the ABN Amro Private Bank in Dubai which manages several billion dollars of wealth. He helps high net worth clients allocate across multiple asset classes like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, hedge funds, private equity, structured products and real estate, spanning both developed and emerging markets. Prior to ABN Amro, Mr. Syed was at Societe Generale in San Francisco where he was a Managing Director of Investment Research. On two occasions, was ranked by the prestigious "Wall Street Journal" among the top five analysts in his sector. He was one of the first on the Street to downgrade stocks in January 2001, helping his clients avoid the brunt of the market correction in 2001-2002. He has been profiled in detail by the Wall Street Journal for his award winning investment ideas and received additional favorable coverage from major media like CNBC, Smart Money, Institutional Investor and more. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from Ohio Wesleyan University (1988) where he graduated at the top of his class and an MBA from U.C. Berkeley (1993) where he graduated with a perfect final-year GPA.

Dr Geoffrey Williams is a founder and Managing Director of Owens, Williams & Wood Consulting in Malaysia and Singapore. He has designed and directed numerous research projects for the UK Government (DTI), European Commission (DG-Research), and European Standards Agency, among others. He has also worked with private companies and charities including PA Consulting Group, leading UK law firm Allen & Overy, and the Wellcome Trust UK. He is a member of the EU Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EUMCCI) CSR Committee. Geoffrey has held academic positions at London Business School, Pembroke College University of Oxford and elsewhere. He has published extensively in leading academic journals worldwide. He is an Associate Member of the Centre for Business, Organisations and Society, School of Management, University of Bath, United Kingdom and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) in 2004. Geoffrey’s most recent research has focussed on Corporate Social Responsibility in a global context and in particular, on the factors that determine the success of CSR initiatives in different socio-political contexts. He has also published original research on the profile of SRI investors in a cross-country setting and the factors that determine the decision to invest in SRI products. Geoffrey also has an active research interest in the development of practical management tools for the assessment and implementation of successful CSR systems within companies, which led to the development of the OWW Responsibility™ CSR Assessment Tool. OWW Consulting has also established the first SRI Index in Malaysia and will launch the first SRI Index for Singapore in March 2007. His work has been published in leading academic journals including Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organisation, Research Policy, Business Ethics: A European Review, Review of Income and Wealth, European Competition Law Review, Review of Financial Economics, Journal of Behavioral Finance, Journal of Macroeconomics, Information Economics and Policy, Applied Economics, Applied Financial Economics, International Review of Business and Economics. His research output has had direct impact in the business world and has been covered in the media including the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNBC, the Edge (Malaysia) and the Sun newspaper in the UK. His speaking events include the American Economic Association Meeting 2004 (San Diego), chair of a special session on culture and economics; the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI) CSR Conference 2006 in KL; the MIA 2006 National Accountants' Conference in KL in a special session on CSR. He will be speaking on SRI at the major CSR Conference in KL on 1-2 March 2007 and at the International Institute for Research (IIR Middle East) CSR Summit 24-28 June 2007 in Dubai. He has also been invited to write a series of four articles on CSR for the Malaysian Institute of Management, the first of which, on Socially Responsible Investment, will appear in the April 2007 issue of their quarterly journal.