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Conference:
Day 1
2 November 2008 8am - 5:30pm
Day 2
3 November 2008 8am - 5:30pm
Workshops:
4 November 2008 9am - 5pm
Post conference masterclass A
Converting a Traditional Fund into a Shari'ah Fund
Post conference masterclass B
Structuring a Shari'ah compliant alternative fund
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Neveen El-Tahri
Chairperson
Delta Rasmala Group, Egypt
Brad Bourland
Chief Economist
Jadwa Investment, Saudi Arabia
Simon Gray
Director, Supervision
Dubai Financial Services Authority, UAE
Dawood Taylor
Head of Takaful
Bank Al Jazira, Saudi Arabia
 Alka Banerjee
Vice President of Global Equities
Standard & Poor's, USA
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Islamic Funds World 2008
Our speakers..
Managing Director,
Nomura Asset Management
Rejina is the Managing Director of Nomura Asset Management Malaysia Sdn Bhd. She assisted in the setting up of Nomura Asset Management’s office in Malaysia which has been in operation since December 2006.
Within this short time, the Malaysian operations have seen phenomenal growth under her leadership and is currently the largest foreign fund management company in Malaysia. She is Nomura Asset Management’s first female head of business in an overseas office and also it’s first non-Japanese head of business in an overseas branch.
Rejina holds a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from University of Kent at Canterbury, UK and is a qualified Barrister at Law (Lincoln’s Inn, UK). Over her career span, she has held various roles from compliance, legal, risk management, product development, to marketing, client services and strategic planning.
Rejina has actively contributed towards the development of compliance for both the unit trust and asset management industries in Malaysia through close work with the industries‘ associations and the Securities Commission of Malaysia. She also serves as the Treasurer for the Malaysian Association of Asset Managers (MAAM).
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Head of Capital Market Services,
Dar Al Sharia (A Dubai Islamic Bank Subsidiary)
Before Joining Dar Al Sharia (Dubai Islamic Bank) I was chief operating officer of UM Financial, Canada, the second largest Islamic finance institution in North America. I have a Finance undergraduate and a Masters degree in Economics from Boston, USA. I started my carrier with a prestigious Wall Street firm, Smith Barney. I have also worked for Hartford Insurance Group in the mergers and acquisitions department of the Strategic Business Development Group. I have learned Sharia from numerous famous scholars around the globe. I have a vast experience of conventional and Islamic financial markets and I 'm currently heading the Capital Market Services part of Dar Al Sharia under the direct guidance of Dr. Hussain Hamed Hassan. I 'm dealing with premium global financial firms to help them create Sharia compliant funds, certificates and other new Sharia compliant financial products to be marketed in GCC and rest of the world.
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Chief Economist,
The National Commercial Bank
Dr. Said A. Al-Shaikh has been the Chief Economist since January 2000. In that capacity, he is charged with providing primary research and consultancy on the Saudi Economy to other Business Divisions at the Bank. His responsibilities include overseeing the preparation of financial and economic analysis of the different Saudi industries, besides the editing of the Market Review & Outlook, Saudi Economic Perspectives and several other publications. Prior to joining NCB in 1998, Dr. Al-Shaikh served as an assistant professor of Finance and Economics in the College of Industrial Management at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) for the period between 1993 and 1998. He held a number of assignments including serving as a principal researcher at the Research Institute of KFUPM. In addition to working with KFUPM, he served as a part-time consultant for the Federation of the GCC Chambers of Commerce representing the Federation in several local and regional conferences. Said A. Al-Shaikh earned a Bachelor degree in Architectural Engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, a Master degree in Public Policy and Planning from University of Oregon and a PhD in Economics from Cornell University.
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Islamic Strategic Banker,
Absa Private Bank
Nauman Ali attained a BA from the University of California at Berkeley, double majoring in Economics and Rhetoric. He also attained a MSc in Economic History from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
He has worked in the investments industry in a variety of roles (at Solomon Smith Barney in the USA and Standard Chartered Bank in the UAE).
Subsequently, he was Product Development Manager at Absa Islamic Banking, a business unit set up by Absa Bank, one of South Africa’s largest banks and majority owned by Barclays. Most recently, he has been developing a comprehensive Islamic wealth management proposition for Absa Private Bank.
He remains interested in the development and implementation of truly Shari’ah compliant solutions for the wealth management industry.
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Head, Wealth Management,
Noor Islamic Bank
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Vice President,
Sharjah Islamic Bank
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Shari'ah Scholar, President, Chief Executive Officer,
International Institute of Islamic Finance
Dr. Mohd Daud Bakar is currently the President/CEO of International Institute of Islamic Finance (IIIF) Inc. (BVI), IIIF Education Sdn. Bhd. and Amanie Business Solutions Sdn. Bhd. (Kuala Lumpur). He was the Deputy Rector (Student Affairs and Development) and an Associate Professor at the International Islamic University Malaysia. He received his first degree in Shari’ah from University of Kuwait (1988) and PhD from University of St. Andrews, United Kingdom (1993). In 2002, he completed his external Bachelor of Jurisprudence at University of Malaya. He has published more than 30 articles in various academic journals and presented more than 180 papers in various conferences both local and abroad. He is now Chairman of the Shari’ah Advisory Council at the Central Bank of Malaysia, member of the Shari’ah Advisory Council at the Securities Commission of Malaysia, (Malaysia), Oasis Asset Management (Cape Town, South Africa), Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) (Bahrain), International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) (Bahrain), Dow Jones Islamic Market Index (New York), Unicorn Investment Bank (Bahrain), Financial Guidance (USA), BNP Paribas (Bahrain), Yasaar Ltd. (Dubai), Dar al-Istithmar (London), HSBC (Amanah) Global (London), Munich Re (Singapore), Swiss Asia Mashreeq Fund (Singapore) and in other financial institutions both local and abroad. He has been involved in advising Islamic funds and Islamic Sukuk both local and globally. He is a licensed Shari’ah advisor for Islamic Securities in Malaysia. Recently, he has been awarded the Islamic Banker Award of 2005 by the Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia.
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Vice President, Global Index Management - Index Analysis and Management ,
Standard & Poor's
Alka Banerjee is vice president of Global Equities within Standard & Poor’s index Services group. Alka is responsible for the design and methodology governing these indices. She oversees the creation and management of Standard & Poor's global indices, focusing on creating new benchmarks for international equity markets and promoting their use amongst global clients.
Alka was closely involved with the transition of the premier IFC’s Emerging Market Indices to Standard and Poor’s Index Group in 2000, and in the integration of the S&P/Citigroup Indices into the Standard and Poor’s Index family in 2004. Alka is also responsible for the S&P/Citigroup Global Property/REIT Index methodology, guidelines and maintenance procedures. She works closely with S&P’s business development and the sales team. Alka’s special areas of interest are emerging and frontier markets, Islamic Finance and global REITs.
Prior to joining Standard & Poor's in 2000, Alka worked for The Bank of New York where she was responsible for the creation, maintenance and marketing of The Bank of New York ADR Index. Before coming to the US, she worked for the State Bank of India for ten years in India.
Alka holds a Masters in Economics from Lucknow University in India and an MBA in finance from Pace University, New York.
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Chief Executive Officer, Takaful ,
Tokio Marine Middle East Ltd
Mr. Bhatty is CEO Takaful, Tokio Marine Middle East Limited based in the DIFC, Dubai.
Tokio Marine Group has presence in 41 countries and 102 cities world-wide. Its Middle East platform based in the DIFC provides technical and management services to insurance and takaful companies including its Group companies in the MENA region. It seeks opportunities in the region to develop takaful businesses with technical and operational synergy from Tokio Marine Group.
Mr. Bhatty’s takaful experience spans over 20 years. This includes practical exposure to several markets managing businesses ranging from multinational organizations to smaller companies and start-up ventures. As a recognized industry figure, he is actively engaged in industry debate through the platforms of AAOIFI(Accounting & Auditing Organization of Islamic Financial Institutions), IFSB and IDB. He is member of a sub-committee of Islamic Development Bank and Bank Negara Malaysia on development and promotion of takaful amongst the members of Organization of Islamic Countries.
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Chief Economist,
Jadwa Investment
Since June 2007 Brad has been the Chief Economist at Jadwa investment Company in Riyadh. He is also Chairman of the Investment Committee for the proprietary investments of the company 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.
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Chief Executive,
Pheim Asset Management
Dr Tan Chong Koay founded Pheim Asset Management Sdn Bhd and Pheim Asset Management (Asia) Pte Ltd in 1994 and 1995 respectively. Pheim provides portfolio management services to mainly institutions (including government agencies, government-linked companies, corporations, insurance funds, unit trusts and mutual funds), and high net worth individuals. As at 30th June 2008, Pheim manages US$ 1.1 billion in total assets under management. Pheim specializes in value investing in the region of ASEAN and Asia ex Japan, on the foundation of a proven unique investment philosophy of not being fully invested at all times. Pheim also has an established track record of managing funds in accordance with Syariah principles, and with small cap focus.
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General Manager ,
Damac Kuwaiti Holding
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Managing Partner,
Eurasia Capital Management, Kazakstan
Mr. Djumanov has over 13 years of investment management, investment banking, and advisory experience in emerging markets of Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasian countries including Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Mongolia. He has worked in major international financial centers such as New York, London and Zurich. Mr. Djumanov is Chairman of Eurasia Capital Group, a Singapore-based holding group with extensive investments in Central Asia and partnerships in Russia and Ukraine. He leads Eurasia Capital Management, investment management firm (with offices in Almaty, Kazakhstan; Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Ulaanbataar, Mongolia and Tbilisi, Georgia) that manages five regional and country funds: Central Asia Opportunity Fund, Eurasian Financial Institutions Fund, Central Asia Real Estate Fund, Mongolia Discovery Fund and Uzbekistan Growth Fund. He was co-founder of Ansher Group, an investment group with investments in Central Asia as well as CEO of Ansher Capital, the first Western-styled investment bank in Uzbekistan. He was Vice President of Auerbach Grayson & Co., a brokerage house in New York advising US institutional investors on portfolio investments in emerging markets in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). He was Head of Corporate Finance in Central Asia and the Caucasus at Ernst & Young as well as investment banker at Renaissance Capital in Moscow and Credit Suisse First Boston in Zurich and London. Mr. Djumanov received his Master of International Affairs from Columbia University and an MBA from Oxford University.
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Chairperson,
Delta Rasmala Group
Since the establishment of Delta a number of institutional partners have been brought in & out, namely; Egyptian American Bank “EAB”, American Express Bank, ABN AMRO Bank, Mena Investments. Finally in a swap deal Rasmala Investments Holding Limited “RIHL”, a Dubai based Investment Bank, acquired a 51% stake in the Brokerage, Asset Mgmt & Capital Investments companies & renamed “Delta Rasmala” and Neveen was seated on the advisory board of RIHL.
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Gulf Bureau Chief,
Bloomberg
Sean attained a BA from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, and went on to secure his law degree at Ireland's University College Galway. He has spent his career building ground-breaking media enterprises, starting with the award-winning Punchbag Productions across Britain and Ireland.
Mr. Evers returned to the Middle East in the mid-1990s where he had spent his youth growing up with his seven siblings, children of a United Nations diplomat that developed peace missions in the aftermath of conflicts.
Sean's first assignment in the region was as a The Financial Times Cairo correspondent. He joined Bloomberg in Dubai in 1997 and over the following decade built the U.S. media's presence from Cairo to Tehran.
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Director, Supervision, Supervision,
Dubai Financial Services Authority
Simon joined the DFSA in 2006 as Director, Supervision covering asset management, banking and insurance and his remit includes the supervision of Islamic Financial Institutions as well as conventional Firms offering Islamic Windows. Simon has spent much of his working life in the private sector with senior roles including Baring Asset Management, New Star Asset Management and most recently, as Head of Asset Management Compliance at Barclays Wealth. He has previously worked at IMRO, a predecessor organisation of the UK FSA and on the successful BCCI investigation for the Serious Fraud Office.
Simon is a Fellow of the Securities and Investments Institute, as well as a Fellow of the Institute of Financial Services.
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President and Chief Executive Officer,
Florentez Investment Management (ShariahShares)
Saeid founded Florentez Investment Management in 2006. Florentez, Based in Irvine, California, USA will be launching Shariah Compliant Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) using FTSE Global Shariah Equity Indexes on NYSE and London Stock Exchange in the near future. Saeid has over twenty year experience in the business world with the past thirteen years in the Financial Services industry both in the US and Middle East. Prior to Florentez Investment Management, Saeid worked as a senior Investment officer at Islamic Development Bank (IDB) as well as Islamic Corporation for Development of Private Sector (ICD) in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. During his tenure, he was responsible for analyzing various investment projects including money manager search and selection, analyzing investment Projects and proposals both for equity and term financing. Prior to IDB/ICD, he was a technology research analyst at Credit Agricole Indosuez Securities in San Francisco where he was responsible for analyzing the Asian technology companies focusing on Electronic contract manufacturers. He holds an Executive MBA as well as MSBA (Finance) from the University of Southern California with distinction. Saeid has also earned the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst from the CFA Institute in Charlottesville, VA. Saeid has graded the CFA exam (2002-2004) and was member of the Board of Governors of the CFA Society of Los Angeles.
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Assistant Professor & Sahriah Advisor
Shariah Advisory Council, Shariah Advisory Council,
International Islamic University & Bank Negara
Dr. Aznan Hasan is an Assistant Professor in Islamic law and the former head of Islamic law Department, Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws, International Islamic University Malaysia. He taught subjects such as Islamic Legal Theory, Islamic Commercial Law and Islamic Banking and Finance at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He has served as a Shariah advisor to various financial Institutions, legal firms and corporate bodies. Currently he served as a member of Shariah Advisory Council of Bank Negara Malaysia, the Supreme Shariah Board that oversees the practice and implementation of Islamic principles in Malaysian Islamic banking and finance and a licensed Shariah Advisor for the issuance of Islamic securities and Islamic Unit Trust Schemes, Securities Commission of Malaysia. He is also a Shariah Advisor for Bursa Malaysia, the sole Malaysian Exchange and Dat al-Istithmar, London. He is also an external Shariah Fellow at Islamic Banking and Finance Institute of Malaysia (IBFIM)
Dr. Aznan Hasan received his first Degree in Shariah from University of al-Azhar. He then successfully completed his Master degree in Shariah from Cairo University with distinction (mumtaz). He then obtained his Ph. D from University of Wales, Lampeter, United Kingdom.
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Managing Director,
Falcon Equity
Mr. Heims brings with him a very successful operational and investment track record. He also serves as managing Director of Dubai based Falcon Advisory Partners (www.falconap.com). Before that he was General Partner of VI Partners AG, a major early stage fund in Switzerland , backed by Swiss blue-chip investors like ABB, Nestle, Credit Suisse, Schindler and Hilti. Prior to that, he was Managing Partner of Deutsche Bank´s DVC “Deutsche Venture Capital”, a € 300m group of funds. During his more than 15 years working in both private and public companies in Germany and the U.S., he has served both in CEO and CFO positions in successful turnarounds, including extensive experience in M&A and private equity transactions for a global IT-distributor (Computer 2000 AG, sales of US $5billion +), which was later acquired by TechData (NASDAQ: TECD). He has extensive technology domain knowledge and a very strong deal opportunity pipeline. His Middle East and Asian business experience includes acquisitions in the U.A.E. / GCC area as well as in Hong Kong, mainland China, Malaysia and Australia.
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Managing Partner,
Tabarak Partners
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 on the Board of Directors for the Standard Bank-Tricon Trade Finance Fund.
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Mr Jaffer is a Partner and the Head of International Business Development for “white label” bancassurance and investment services within the FWU Group, an independent financial services group headquartered in Munich. The Group’s main activities include asset management, bancassurance and individual pension plans. Successfully concluded several important bancassurance distribution deals with major banks in the GCC and the Far East. The Group’s international network includes Luxembourg, Italy, UAE and Malaysia. From June 1998 until June 1999 he was Senior Vice President within the International Mutual Funds Group of Scudder, Stevens and Clark Ltd, based in London and responsible for international product development in Europe and Japan. From January 1989 until May 1998 Mr Jaffer was Vice President with Citibank London. He was with the Financial Institutions Group responsible for
structured products including alternative investments until 1996 and later joined Citibank’s Alternative Investment Strategies (AIS) Group. He was a Regional Director and his responsibilities included international business development and asset gathering from institutional investors in Europe and the Middle East region. He was also a member of Citi’s Hedge Funds Policy and Strategy Committee involved in hedge fund manager selection and due diligence. Mr Jaffer was an Audit Partner with the Price Waterhouse practice in Africa from July 1984 until September 1988. Mr Jaffer is a UK qualified Certified accountant (FCCA). Mr Jaffer is currently a Council member of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) and past Chairman for the period 1997 to 2000. He has written extensively on alternative investments and has edited several Euromoney publications on Hedge Funds, Multimanager and Islamic Banking, Asset Management and Insurance and the CPI publication on Investing in the GCC Markets. He is also a member of ALFI’s Asset Management Advisory Committee and of their Hedge Fund Committee. ALFI is the Association of the Luxembourg Funds Industry.
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Managing Director,
Shariah Capital Inc
Mohammad Jamjoum, General Manager, Dubai Shariah Asset Management and Managing Director, Shariah Capital.
Mohammad Jamjoum is General Manager of Dubai Shariah Asset Management and Managing Director of Shariah Capital responsible for the Company's Dubai office. He is also an Executive Member of Shariah Capital's Board of Directors.
Mr. Jamjoum has over 35 years of experience in Middle East banking. Following an extended career with Chase Manhattan Bank in New York and Bahrain, Mr. Jamjoum during the 1990's was the general manager and CEO of Doha Bank, Jordan Kuwait Bank and Jordan Gulf Bank.
More recently, he has acted as a consultant and advisor to various financial institutions in the Gulf. In 2000, Mr. Jamjoum spent two years as an advisor to the Reconstruction and Development Bank of Bosnia & Herzegovina. Subsequently he was an advisor to Qatar Islamic Bank where he was responsible for establishing expansion projects in Malaysia, the United Kingdom and the United States. In his latest assignment, Mr. Jamjoum was the CEO of Trust Bank-Algeria.
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President and Chief Executive Officer,
UM Financial
In launching UM Financial in Canada, Mr. Kalair succeeded in creating Canadian financing and deposit products that offer rates and features similar to conventional products yet are usury-free. UM secured a $120 million facility from a regulated Canadian financial institution for the financing of residential properties. UM recently launched a real estate brokerage and a $100 million real estate investment fund to diversify its range of services. It is currently in discussions with Canadian banks to launch a UM suite of banking products and share a joint license for the operation of a Canadian Islamic bank in the future. UM was listed as the only Canadian entry in The Banker magazine's Top 500 Islamic Financial Institutions listing and has been profiled on the front page of the business sections of the three leading daily newspapers in Canada. UM is the sole Canadian representative in two of the largest Islamic Finance associations, the IFSB and AAOIFI. Mr.Kalair was recognized among CIC's top twenty pioneer
Muslim business leaders at the Canadian parliament in Ottawa. He has been invited to speak on Islamic Finance at conferences in Toronto, Montreal, New York, London, Istanbul, Dubai, Bahrain, Malaysia and Hong Kong. In founding UM Financial, Mr. Kalair obtained the exceptional ability to see and lead the Canadian Islamic Finance industry from a technical, marketing, financial and regulatory angle.
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Executive Vice President for Strategic Planning,
Finance House
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Islamic Finance Economist and Shari'ah Scholar,
Elite Horizon Economic Consultant
Dr Khorshid has been involved with financial institutions for over 3 decades with comprehensive skills and knowledge in Islamic finance; He is recognised expert on Shariah compliant finance, within the Islamic law, Islamic moamlat, and Islamic contracts. Dr Khorshid started his carrier with international marketing and trade; He served as a Shariah board member of bank Al-Baraka (The first Islamic bank in the UK) he dealt with the U.K treasury and Bank of England departments in relation to the regulatory of Islamic banking issues.
Dr Khorshid gives consultancy services on Islamic finance on legal and financial issues and Shariah compliant products, with particular experience in harmonising the western conventional financial systems with the Islamic financial structure. He is a Consultant to central bank on establishing Islamic banking system through Central bank regulatory policies and corporate governance. Dr Khorshid also took part in structuring Islamic home purchase scheme and Islamic capital market products.
He is a trustee member of Oxford Academy (UK), member of the institute of management consultancy (UK), and visiting lecturer in El-Azhar University ”Egypt” and ‘SOAS’ University of London on Islamic finance.
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Executive Director,
MSCI Barra
"Jim Leggate is an Executive Director, responsible for managing the company’s business and client relationships in the Middle East, Africa and India. He is Head of MSCI Barra’s Dubai office and manages a team based in Cape Town, Dubai and Mumbai.
Jim joined MSCI Barra in 2000 in the London office, and initially managed the relationships with Asset Managers and Broker Dealers in the UK, Netherlands, Scandinavia and the Middle East.
Prior to joining MSCI Barra, Jim worked at Bloomberg for three years in both terminal sales and agency trading roles. He also spent six years at W.I. Carr, where he was responsible for the implementation project for the electronic trading systems of the London Stock Exchange (SETS)."
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Chairman,
cru Investment Management and Africa Invest
Jon was appointed as Investment Development Director of Legal & General Investment Management in 1992 and was part of the Executive team that up to his departure in 1998, secured over £8 billion of new individual client investment business. He moved to Prudential Fund Managers as Head of Business Development, before leaving to establish his own investment fund consultancy. He has Chaired Investment Classification at the Association of British Insurers. Jon is both a founder and a major shareholder in cru Investment Management Limited of which Africa Invest is a wholly owned trading name.
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Product Manager,
IdealRatings
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Portfolio Manager,
Rasmala Investments
Mr. Mian joined Rasmala after having served as a Senior Fund Analyst at CIBC Mellon in Toronto for two years. As a key member within the asset management group, he focuses on intermarket analysis to make asset allocation decisions for global, and MENA (Middle East and North Africa) equity portfolios. He is also involved in idea generation and security analysis to deploy capital across regional equities. He holds a BA in Finance and Economics from the University of Western Ontario in Canada. He is currently a Level III candidate in the CFA Program, a Level III candidate in the CMT (Chartered Market Technician) Program and has completed an Islamic Finance Qualification from the UK Securities & Investment Institute. Rasmala is a regional investment bank headquartered in the Dubai International Financial Centre with operating subsidiaries in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Oman and the United Kingdom. Rasmala's business activities cover four main areas, namely private equity, investment banking, asset management, and brokerage; with $1.5 billion in assets under management.
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Managing Director,
Islamic Capital Partners
Ashar M. Nazim, Founder Managing Director of Islamic Capital brings 15 years international experience, primarily working with the Central Bank of Bahrain and Ernst & Young Bahrain. Ashar has first hand experience in setting up infrastructure and Islamic financial institutions in GCC and Pakistan.
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Dr Vladimir Nedeljkovic , Head of ETFs and Index ,
Absa Capital
Dr Vladimir Nedeljkovic has a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Wits University and an MBA from Wits Business School.
He lectured diverse subjects such as pattern recognition and Bayesian data analysis prior to joining financial industry, where he has worked extensively on derivative strategies and structured investment products.
Since 2001, first in Absa Corporate and Merchant Bank and then in Absa Capital, Vladimir has been responsible for ETFs and index products as well as hybrid capital.
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Director and Registrar,
Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan
Mr. Bilal Rasul is the Registrar of Modaraba Companies and Modarabas, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. A British Council (Chevening) Scholar, Mr. Rasul is a Master of Public Administration as well as a Master of Economics and Finance from the United Kingdom. He has 15 years of varied experience in capital market regulation including the securities market, non-banking and finance companies as well as the non-financial sector.
As Registrar, he is responsible for heading the Islamic finance initiative for the capital market in Pakistan and has successfully conceptualized an Islamic regulatory framework for the capital market. Recently he concluded work on 12 new Shariah compliant financing contracts which are now the standard operating documents for the Modaraba companies in Pakistan.
As Focal Person of the IFSB at the SECP, Mr. Rasul is responsible for the implementation and adoption of the IFSB standards and principles.
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Business Development Manager,
cru Investment Management and Africa Invest
Naveen joined cru Investment Management in June 2008 to head up Islamic Finance. Prior to joining cru she was at HSBC Amanah, the Islamic Finance division of HBSC Group. Naveen has a varied range of experience from Wealth Management and Private Banking to Islamic Structuring and Documentation. She holds a BA (Hons) in Statistics from University College London (UCL). She is a fully registered FSA representative, and has also successfully gained the Islamic Finance Qualification (IFQ) with merit. Naveen has presented at and attended many Islamic Finance forums in order to enhance her understanding of the trends seen and developments in the Islamic Finance world.
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Partner,
White & Case LLP
Mr. Roose’s practice focuses on international tax planning and general corporate and business advisory tax work, focusing on Asia-Pacific and the United States.
Mr. Roose has over twenty five years of experience advising multinational and domestic businesses, international investment funds, venture capital funds, private equity funds, hedge funds, high-technology companies, financial institutions and financial service industry companies, and global real estate investment funds with respect to all tax aspects of their business and investment activities in the Asia-Pacific Region, particularly with regard to Japan, China, South Korea, and Singapore, and also with regard to the United States.
Mr. Roose is listed in the 2007/08 Euromoney Guide to the World’s Leading Tax Advisors, highly recommended in the field of taxation in the 2008 edition of PLC Which Lawyer? Yearbook, named as a 2007 Asialaw Leading Lawyers: Taxation, and listed in the International Tax Review’s World Tax 2008 as a leading individual in Japan. He has also been nominated for inclusion in the first edition of Best Lawyers in Japan.
He is a lecturer at Keio University Law School, where he teaches international taxation and accounting. He is also a frequent speaker at international tax conferences.
Mr. Roose received his law degree from the University of Illinois, College of Law, where he graduated first in his class.
Mr. Roose is a Certified Public Accountant as well as an attorney.
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Co-Head of MENA Equities,
Credit Suisse
Ali Salaam, Director and Co-head of Mena equities is based in Dubai.
Ali is responsible for the sales and trading activities of Credit Suisse covering Mena equities. He also works in close collaboration with other teams in Credit Suisse cross selling other products and services to institutional investors and high net worth individuals across the region.
He was previously Director and head of regional sales at Deutsche bank in Dubai.
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Commercial Director,
The First Group, TFG Real Estate LLC
Mr. Scott is a Fund Director of International Property Holdings Group PCC Ltd (Guernsey), M. D. of First Wealth Management Ltd (UK) and Commercial Director of The First Group PLC. Prior to his posting to Dubai in 2005, Scott was the proprietor of a multi-branch FSA authorised and regulated Independent Financial Advisory firm in the UK specialising in portfolio planning, specialist pensions and tax planning for high net worth clients. Most recently involved in; structuring and launching of a Shariáh compliant Guernsey PCC UAE property fund.
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Assistant Chairperson,
Egyptian Stock Exchange
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Chief Operating Officer,
Amiri Capital
Hamel Shah is COO at Amiri Capital.
He has over 10 years experience in investment banking, strategy consulting, entrepreneurial ventures and senior management.
Hamel has a degree in Economics from Cambridge University, and an MBA from INSEAD, with an exchange to Wharton Business School. His 8 year consulting career with Bain & Co included a wide range of financial services and private equity related projects.
He has also previously worked at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell and NatWest Markets.
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Global Director, Islamic Financial Market Index,
Dow Jones
Rushdi Siddiqui is Global Director for the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes. In this capacity he supervises more than 90 Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes that underlie hundreds of Shari’ah-compliant mutual funds, exchange traded funds and structured products. He also oversees the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index Shari’ah Supervisory Board of five international scholars.
Mr. Siddiqui strongly contributed to the development of the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes and pioneered their use as benchmarks for Shari’ah-compliant investment products. He has traveled the Muslim world extensively, presented at key Islamic Finance conferences globally, and has done more than 200 interviews. Mr. Siddiqui received several awards: The American Muslim Achievement Award for his contributions and dedication to Islamic Finance (2007), Failaka Award for Best Contribution to Growth & Development of Islamic Funds (2006), Deloitte/IIIF Award (Special Contribution to Islamic Finance (2005), CERT Award for Excellence in Islamic Finance (2004), and Sh. Mohammad Rashid Bin Makhtoum Award for Innovation in Islamic Finance (2003).
Mr. Siddiqui has been with Dow Jones Indexes since 1998. His background is in investment and commercial banking and teaching. He has taught at NYU’s School of Professional Studies (Privatization & Economic Reform), Dow Jones University of Principles of Islamic Investing, Bahrain and the Institute of Banking & Finance (Islamic Indexes & Funds) and has published a chapter in Euromoney's Asset Management, Law Review Article at University of Chicago Law School. Mr. Siddiqui is Chairman of the Islamic Finance Forum in Dubai, UAE; Board member of the Arab Bankers Association of North America and is a member of the Advisory Committee at IIFM (Bahrain) and the Advisory Board at DIFC’s IFAC (Dubai).
Mr. Siddiqui has bachelor degrees in management and marketing, from New York University, N.Y., an MBA from Baruch College, N.Y., and a juris doctorate from Albany Law School of Union University, Albany, N.Y.
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Managing Director,
Reliance Capital
TJ Singh is a Managing Director of Reliance Capital, a financial services firm based in New York and San Francisco. Prior to Reliance Capital, he was a Principal at the investment banking firm of C.E. Unterberg, Towbin. He started his Wall Street career at Salomon Smith Barney. Mr. Singh has been involved with several mergers, spinoffs, IPOs and secondary offerings for technology companies. Mr. Singh has several years of industry experience including integrated circuit and computer design, IC fabrication, marketing and treasury operations, having worked at National Semiconductor, Sun Microsystems and Intel Corporation. He sat on the supervisory committee of the American Electronics Association Credit Union from 1992-1995.
Mr. Singh holds an undergraduate in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, an MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University.
He has presented papers at several leading IEEE conferences, including the ISSCC (IEEE Solid-State Circuits Conference), and has been widely quoted in Fortune, Investors Business Daily and Dow Jones News. Mr. Singh was also selected to “Who’s Who of American
Inventors for the year 1994-1995,” for his patent on quantum effect devices. He also holds NASD now called FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) Series 7, 66, 24, 86, 87, 4 & 27 licenses.
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Senior Executive Officer,
Head of Institutional Business & Funds Marketing
Middle East and North Africa ,
KBC Financial Products MENA
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Shariah Scholar / Advisor,
Frontieralt Investment Management & Islamic Finance Advisory Board
Dr. Azeemuddin Subhani currently functions as a Canadian Independent Financial Shari‘ah Advisor, with several professional affiliations, Shari’ah-compliance consulting assignments (frontier Alt), speaking engagements at international Islamic Finance conferences (Toronto 2007, IIR Dubai 2008, and Harvard 2008) and visiting teaching positions in Islamic Studies including Shari’ah at Canadian universities (Waterloo). His language proficiency includes Arabic and he is currently pursuing the prestigious new professional qualification of “Certified Shari‘a Adviser and Auditor” (CSAA) from the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) – the global standard-setting body on Islamic finance products and practices, thus positioning to be the first AAOIFI-certified Shari’a-compliance advisor and auditor in Canada.
Dr. Subhani has the unique distinction of being well versed in Islamic Law as well as in both Western and Islamic Finance, through advanced degrees and long, varied experience. He holds a PhD and an MA in Islamic Law/Islamic Finance (Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University: 2007, 2001), an MBA and Doctoral Studies in Finance (University of Southern California, 1965), and an MBA in Accounting (IBA Karachi, 1963). His PhD dissertation, “Divine Law of Riba [usury] and Bay‘ [exchange]: New Critical Theory,” has officially been recognized by McGill as a “seminal theorization on an important institution of Islamic law,” as it posits a pioneering interpretation of the rationale of the foundational prohibition of riba, with far-reaching conceptual and practical structural implications for the standardization of the emerging Islamic Finance industry.
He brings over four decades professional experience from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Canada, covering financial Shari‘a consulting in personal/housing finance, mutual funds, hedge funds, and sukuk; university teaching/research; investment banking; project / infrastructure / corporate / government finance; and petro-chemical / oil / gas financial advisory work, including 25 years as Financial Advisor to the Saudi Arabian Government on negotiation and implementation of a variety of ARAMCO and PETROMIN oil & gas agreements (including Concession, Government Participation, Nationalization, Exploration, Production, Pipeline, Refining, Infrastructure, Export, Net-back Pricing, Management Service, Processing, and Petroleum Exchange). His extensive written work on Petroleum Finance and Islamic Finance, including his PhD dissertation, is currently under publication.
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Head of Portfolio Management,
ABN Amro Private Banking
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.
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Head of Takaful ,
Bank Al Jazira
Dawood Yousef Taylor has spent the last six years researching, developing and introducing to the Kingdom, the first Takaful Ta'awuni (Islamic Life Insurance) program in the Middle East, heading up a very experienced Takaful Ta'awuni team at Bank Aljazira.
Uniquely, the Takaful Ta'awuni model adopted is based on a Wakala contract for both underwriting and investment aspects of the program. This is the first time a single Wakala contract has been adopted for a Takaful Ta'awuni operation. The Bank Aljazira Takaful Program is the first sharia complaint and Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency approved Takaful Ta'awuni program in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia . This development also resulted in the first commercially available software being designed and produced for the Takaful Ta'awuni international market. A full suite of Takaful Ta'awuni products, individual and corporate, both risk and investment was introduced to the Saudi market in late 2001.
Sales in the first two years of operation have significantly exceeded expectations and a full roll out of the Takaful Ta'awuni program, nationwide, is planned for late 2003, with regional offices now operating in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. Prior to his appointment as Head of Takaful Ta'awuni at Bank Aljazira, Dawood was Assistant General Manager at Arab National Bank, Head of Investment Department-Western Region of Saudi Arabia, successfully introducing the Al Hilal Islamic Mutual Investment Fund to the local market, one of the first Dow Jones Islamic Index funds launched in the Kingdom. From the early 80's to joining Arab National Bank, Dawood was Western Region Manager- Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , for a major offshore insurance broker. Dawood has been invited to speak on Takaful at numerous international conferences and seminars throughout the world and has had a number of articles on Takaful published in prominent Islamic financial magazines.
Dawood, a British Muslim, has lived and worked in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since 1974.
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Executive Director, Islamic Finance,
Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (DIFCA)
Nik Norishky Thani is the Executive Director of Islamic Finance at Dubai International Financial Centre. He was a Fulbright scholar at Georgetown University, Washington D.C. where he focused on Islamic law and finance for his Master of Law (LL.M) and graduated top of his class with Distinction and Dean’s List. He is a fellow at the Center for International Environmental Law, a Geneva based international body that promotes sustainable economic
development. Nik Norishky Thani also underwent the Program of Instruction for Lawyers at Harvard Law School in Boston, Massachusetts. He has extensive experience in advising and structuring Islamic financial instruments for over ten years, in particular Islamic Sukuk. Prior to DIFC, he was the Head of Islamic Capital Markets for MIMB Investment Bank Malaysia and Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad. He was also previously attached with Aseambankers Malaysia Berhad and Commerce International Merchant Bankers (“CIMB”). Nik Norishky Thani was also a Petronas scholar and holds a law degree (LL.B) from the University of Cardiff, United Kingdom. He was a former student of Malaysia’s premier school, the Malay College Kuala Kangsar.
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Associate Director,
Kuwait Finance House
Ms Tursina is an Associate Director with KFH Research Ltd, which is the research arm of Kuwait Finance House, based in Kuala Lumpur, covering global financial markets as well as major economic, market and currency trends.
Ms Tursina has ten years experience in equity research covering Malaysia and the regional countries in various sectors. The major sectors include Power & Utilities, Telecommunications, Oil & Gas, Automotive and Consumer Products.
Ms Tursina started her career as an equity analyst with Mayban Securities Sdn Bhd in 1997 before joining Avenue Securities Sdn Bhd and OSK Research Sdn Bhd. During her course as an equity analyst, Ms Tursina was also involved in the listing of Titan Chemicals Berhad, South East Asia’s largest petrochemical company, as well as the floatation of Maxis Communications Berhad and PLUS Expressways Berhad.
Ms Tursina has been ranked as Best Analyst in the Asiamoney Broker Polls for the 2005 to 2007 period.
Ms Tursina holds a MBA in Strategic Management from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. She also has an Honours Degree in Financial Economics from Coventry University, UK.
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Deputy Director,
Policy and Strategy Coordination Division
Policy and Strategy Department for International Financial Operations,
Japan Bank for International Cooperation
Etsuaki Yoshida was a Bank of Japan economist in charge of Japan and foreign exchange markets, before moving to JBIC in April 2007. He used to be based in Singapore and covered Southeast Asian economies and financial markets, including Islamic Finance. His works include the Japanese book, "Introduction to Islamic Finance" published in 2007. He teaches Islamic Finance at Waseda Graduate School of Finance as a visiting associate professor. He received B.A. in Business Administration from Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, after attending Harvard University.
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Vice President, Investments and Capital Markets,
Siraj Capital
Khalid is currently the Vice President in-charge of Investments & Capital Markets in Siraj Capital which is an investment company specializing in developing, sponsoring, seeding and launching innovative investment funds, and investment opportunities in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Prior to his current role, he was the Managing Director – Islamic Finance at International Holding Group– a boutique Private Equity & Investment Advisory firm based in Dubai, UAE. In his previous assignment as Director – Islamic Finance at Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Khalid was responsible for developing a unique value proposition and attracting Islamic Financial Institutions to operate from its platform. Khalid has extensive experience within the world’s leading banking groups. He has been Managing Director of the Financial Institutions Group at Bank of America in the UK. He also worked at Citibank in the UK, Turkey, USA, Belgium, Greece & Pakistan, his roles included Country Operations Officer and Vice President Positions. His areas of banking expertise span over Operations, IT, Treasury Management, Risk Management, Financial Control and B2B e-Business Solution. In addition, he has held a number of key Business Development roles in both Islamic and traditional banking products & services, transaction banking and capital market instruments.
Khalid’s extra-curricular interests include readings in astrophysics, playing golf and swimming.
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» For more details on how you can be involved, contact Faith Raagas or call her at +65 6322 2748 now!
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Coming up in November 2009!
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