Roger Ferguson
PC: Bloomberg
SBI Holdings and Ferguson Acquire Minority Stakes
This investment is a part of the burgeoning international interest in Dubai’s finance sector. SBI, managing US$187 billion in assets, has also agreed to invest in future Gateway private equity funds. As stated in the statement, SBI aims to engage other investors from Japan in this business. This, however, did not disclose the terms of the deal.
SBI Holdings President and Chief Executive Officer Yoshitaka Kitao characterised the partnership as an opportunity by which it would be able to put some roots in private equity investment strategy expansion.
Gateway Partners Background and Plans
Gateway Partners was formed by Viswanathan Shankar, an experienced financier who has worked in the right positions of big organisations like Bank of America and Standard Chartered Plc to facilitate its various divisions spread across the European regions, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas.
Gateway currently oversees two private equity funds and is very well-positioned in private credit. The firm will launch more funds next year and will continue to target the firm’s key markets, South and SouthEast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Gateway has invested US$1.5 billion in 25 portfolio companies since the firm launched the business in 2015, which can be taken as a sign of how actively engaged Gateway was with these regions.
Joining him is Mohammed Al Shaibani, chief executive of Investment Corp of Dubai, the state investment firm that runs the emirate’s investment business.
Stronger Demand for the Economies of the Six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council Region End
The deal takes Ferguson, SBI, and Gateway on board as a trend of increased international interest in the financial firms based in Dubai continues. Earlier, a boutique advisory firm deNovo Partners was acquired by PJT Partners in Dubai, while asset manager Janus Henderson entered the region’s private credit market through the acquisition of the alternative investments division of Kuwait’s largest lender.
From hedge funds to asset managers, financial institutions are increasingly being attracted to the Gulf region. These economies, especially through the cities of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh, are seeing a lot of investment because the governments in those areas are trying to move their economies further and further away from depending on oil.
As such, financial services firms have responded by expanding their services, hiring additional staff, and opening offices within these major hubs.
Ferguson’s Experience and Role at Gateway Partners
Gateway Partners comprises significant experience due to Roger Ferguson in person. He served as vice chair of the Federal Reserve from 1999 till 2006 and served as a leading advisor during Alan Greenspan. He is known for having led the response of the central bank after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
After his decade-long period with the Federal Reserve, Ferguson managed to cling to his job for 12 years as CEO of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America or TIAA. He had a key position in Swiss Re AG, before joining TIAA, through which he also led its financial services division.
His huge experience both in the regulatory and the financial sphere is therefore bound to make very positive impacts upon the Gateway Partners’ future policies and operations.
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