Mishal Kanoo is one of the most iconic business figures in the Middle East and has a reputation as a futurist and strategist with a strong track record in forecasting economic developments in the region. As Chairman of KAAF Investments, Mishal Kanoo tries to help people reach their professional dreams. The excitement of helping others achieve their goals, both big or small, is what drives him. Playing a role in bettering people's lives is a great instigator for doing what he does. Kanoo has been investing on a personal and company level since 1991.
Mr. Kanoo currently serves as the Chairman of The Kanoo Group, one of the largest, longest running and independent family-owned groups of companies in the Gulf region. Furthermore, he is a professional and motivational speaker, writes articles for local and regional media, is published in business journals on a regular basis, and holds chief positions as Chairman/Director of various reputable companies, including AXA Insurance Gulf, Gulf Capital, KHK & Partners Limited, Dalma Capital, and Johnson Arabia LLC.
Mishal Kanoo adheres to family values and ideals in pursuit of quality and excellence. Over the years, the Kanoo family has always been associated with the progress and development of the entire region combined with a sense of philanthropy.
Mishal grew up in the United Arab Emirates and finished his early schooling in Dubai. Thereafter he obtained two MBAs, one in finance from the University of St. Thomas, in Texas, and one from the American University of Sharjah. He began his professional career within the family business before going to university to get his first Master’s Degree. He then worked as an auditor outside his family business with Arthur Andersen in Dubai, before Re-joining The Kanoo Group in 1997 as the Deputy Chairman.
David Gibson-Moore is the President of Gulf Analytica, with the role to assist the business development of companies in the Gulf region and undertake investment advisory mandates for leading institutional and private office clients in the GCC. Mr. Gibson-Moore is a Senior Advisor of LGT Group Foundation on which he advices to the Liechtenstein Foundation and the Princely Family of Liechtenstein on matters in connection with the Middle East: this includes relationships with Ruling Families in the Gulf and business opportunities in both financial and other business sectors. He holds over 10 senior executive roles all over the GCC region.
Mr. Gibson-Moore has had a career in general management as well as corporate finance, investment banking and asset management. He has specialised in private equity since 2000. From 2009 to 2014 he was CEO and Managing Director of LGT Bank covering the GCC countries. LGT is a bank privately owned by the Princely Family of Liechtenstein focusing worldwide on institutional and family office asset management.
Before joining LGT Group, he was Chief Executive Officer Middle East for the Robeco Group office based in Bahrain with responsibility for their institutional asset management business in the ME region. Mr. Gibson-Moore was a Member of the Middle East Advisory Board of the Robeco Group from 2008 - 2010.
He previously worked with Chase Manhattan Bank (subsequently JP Morgan Chase) for 15 years where he was Chairman of the Boards of Chase Manhattan Bank in Switzerland, Luxembourg and Jersey and Swiss country manager. In addition, he was Head of Private Banking and Institutional Asset Management in Europe, Middle East and Africa for 8 years, based in Geneva, and was also responsible for business development for Global Investment Banking based in New York.
Following his time at Chase Manhattan, he was a founding partner with responsibility for investment banking at The International Investor (TII), a Kuwaiti-based Islamic investment bank. Following the successful flotation of TII he then completed a 4-year assignment in Riyadh where he was responsible for instigating and then running the investment banking, investment management and share trading divisions of Al Rajhi Bank, the largest Islamic bank in the world, reporting directly to the CEO.
Mr. Gibson-Moore was a Member of the Advisory Board of Heritage Bank, Geneva until 2011. He was Founder of the Bahrain Oxford and Cambridge Society. He was Deputy Chairman of the Standardisation Commission of the European Society of Investment Analysts for 10 years. He was Chancelier of the Chaîne des Rotisseurs in Bahrain from 2005 – 2014.
He is currently Director and Board Member and UAE Country Officer for Rotary Foundation District Committee at the Rotary Club of Dubai and was a Board Member of the Rotary Club of Manama (Bahrain) from 2005 to 2011.
Mr. Gibson-Moore has both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Natural Science from Oxford University and MSc (cum laude) in Financial Economics and a Diploma in Econometrics from London University. He is a Chartered Accountant, having qualified at PriceWaterhouseCoopers in the City of London, a frequent speaker on finance and investment issues and has published numerous articles on banking and investment.
Zachary Cefaratti is the principal founder of Dalma Capital, AIM Summit, and a Venture Partner at Draper Associates. He transformed Dalma Capital's role in investment banking, skillfully executing M&As up to ~$500m and managing financings around ~$2bn. Specializing in cross-border transactions, Zachary connects emerging and developed markets. His expertise covers sectors like EdTech, AI, Blockchain, FinTech, and more. He's proficient in various financial structures, with global deal-making experience from the UAE to Latin America.
With over 15 years in finance, Zachary's journey began trading bonds as a child actor and evolved through academic pursuits at institutions like LSE and UPenn. Beyond academia, he identified top-performing portfolio strategies, providing infrastructure to budding funds. He also played foundational roles in the Franklin University Investment Club and the AIMA Middle East Executive Committee. As an early financial enthusiast, his origins trace back to trading assets earned as a child actor.
Prior to joining Dalma Capital as its DFSA approved Financial Officer, Amir Anwar gained international and regional experience as a Financial Controller and Financial Officer in the Aviation and Financial sectors, respectively. Amir began his twenty year career as a finance professional as an external auditor for one of the big four global auditing firms (PwC) and from that foundation he enhanced his specialization in order to gain pivotal executive roles in government and non-government related entities in the UAE.
Amir first became a Regulated Financial Officer in the Dubai International Financial Centre in 2008. He commenced his role as a financial controller with Dalma Capital in 2014 and was promoted upon merit to become Dalma’s Financial Officer in 2015.
Zahid Aslam is a Senior Investment Professional specialising in structuring, marketing and launching Islamic and conventional capital markets instruments, private equity solutions and investment funds. He has a wide network of clients and investors including sovereign, banks, investment firms, corporates and HNWI.
Zahid began his career in Investment Banking with roles at Bear Stearns, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley where he was initially on the Emerging Markets Desks and later in Risk Management. He later moved into Hedge Fund and Asset Management arena with Portfolio Manager/Trading/Risk Roles at a number of funds, and has invested/managed a number of strategies including Long/Short Indian Equities, Long/Short US Equities, G10 Fixed Income and MENA Equities. He has significant experience in designing novel products which provide superior risk/return profiles in assets classes that include trade finance, real assets, real estate and insurance related investments. He has advised and structured a number of products and solutions for clients looking to raise capital to fund a number of projects in the GCC, Asia and Far East.
Zahid has a M.A. in International Business and Finance from the International Capital Markets Association Centre (ICMA), University of Reading, UK.
Ahmed Eid is the Managing Director of Mergers and Acquisitions at Dalma Capital, where he leads the firm’s advisory efforts across strategic transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and capital raising mandates. Based in Dubai, Ahmed brings deep cross-border expertise, with a focus on aligning global capital with high-growth opportunities in emerging and frontier markets.
Prior to joining Dalma Capital, Ahmed held senior roles at Blue Morphos Capital, Bank of the West, and Morgan Stanley, where he managed over $3B portfolio concentrated on alternative investors and institutional capital. He has a strong background in private equity, growth capital, and structured finance, and has advised clients across the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and the United States.
Ahmed holds an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and is known for his strategic approach to dealmaking, his global network of investors, and his commitment to delivering value through innovative financial solutions.
Outside of work, Ahmed is passionate about weightlifting and soccer, and brings the same focus and discipline to his hobbies as he does to his professional pursuits.
Alma is a Managing Director of Sales of Funds at Dalma Capital. With a background in law and finance, she transitioned from practicing criminal and civil law at her family's law firm to pursuing finance after earning her Masters in Business Administration and Sciences.
Alma previously served as the VP of Sales and Investor Relations at Helicap Securities, focusing on developing investor strategies and fostering relationships with a wide network of High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) and institutional investors. Prior to this, she worked as a Team Lead for Investor Relations at Validus Capital and held positions as a Senior Financial Consultant at Prudential.
Alma holds a Masters in Business Administration and Sciences and a Bachelor of Law.
Outside of work, Alma enjoys yoga, watching movies, and spending time with family and friends.
Majed Kabbara is the Managing Director - Asset Management at Dalma Capital and Founder & Managing Director at Quencia Capital. Mr. Kabbara has more than 17 years of experience - his most recent role was Managing Director and Head of Asset Management at EFG-Hermes in charge of the firm's asset management business in Saudi Arabia. During his 9-year tenure at the firm, he turned around the company's flagship Saudi equity fund to become the leading fund in its category, grew AUMs from a low of around SAR 70m in 2011 to a peak of more than SAR 1b in 2015, launched and managed a number of Saudi equity portfolios and mutual funds, and consistently delivered strong investment returns.
Before EFG-Germes, Mr. Kabbara worked as Loyalty and Portfolio Manager at American Express Saudi Arabia. Prior to that, he held business advisory and management consulting positions at Riyadh based UTC Nexia International and Beirut based TQC International respectively.
Mr. Kabbara is a CFA Charterholder and holds a MBA degree from the American University of Beirut. He also holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Banking with honors from the Lebanese American University.
Wyatt has broad international experience working within several hedge funds, private equity firms, and investment banks across seven cities and five countries including Canada, Switzerland, Australia, India, and the UAE. On the fund side, he has gained experience within quantitative and U.S. equity funds.
Wyatt received his Bachelor’s from McGill University in Accounting and Master’s from Harvard University in Computational Science and Engineering, with a research concentration in finance and financial engineering. His research covered the linkages between Navier Stokes equations and financial markets, taking inputs from fractal Brownian motion to explain dynamic market incompleteness.
He is a CFA Level II candidate and has cleared FRM Level I.
Mustafa is an Associate on the Investment Banking team at Dalma Capital, where he supports a range of advisory and capital-raising mandates across emerging markets and alternative asset classes.
Prior to joining Dalma Capital, Mustafa led due diligence and risk assessments for project finance and infrastructure advisory at a leading investment bank in Pakistan. During his tenure, he played a key role in closing over $1 billion in project finance transactions across energy, transport, and public-private partnership (PPP) sectors.
Mustafa holds a BSc in Economics and Finance from the Lahore School of Economics and a Master of Finance from Queen’s University. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.
Adil is a seasoned finance professional with around 8 years of diverse experience across M&A advisory, investment analysis, financial modelling and valuation. He has advised on high-impact transactions and developed complex financial models to support strategic decision-making, debt structuring, and investment proposals. His background spans global firms including Baker Tilly and KPMG, as well as buy-side and entrepreneurial ventures. Adil holds an MSc in Accounting and Finance from the London School of Economics.
Fadh is a member of the legal team at Dalma Capital. He has been working in the legal sector in UAE for over 5 years assisting clients in Corporate, Commercial and Employment matters as well as handling Offshore Company formations and transactions in UAE Free Zones.
At Dalma Capital, Fadh assists the General Counsel in analyzing investment strategies, drafting legal documents and also acts as an enforcer to assist clients in achieving their tailored objectives.
Fadh received his Bachelor’s in Law from Karnataka State Law University in India and is a member of the Bar Council of India. Prior to working at Dalma Capital, Fadh was handling responsibilities of a Junior Associate at Galadari Advocates & Legal Consultants, Dubai.
Ritchie joined Dalma Capital in April 2015 and is the firm's Deputy MLRO and Office Manager.
Her responsibilities encompass overseeing and ensuring the proper implementation of compliance policies and procedures within the firm. Ritchie also extends her support to the company's executives, partners and the team.
Prior to Dalma Capital, Ritchie worked as a HR Officer in the UAE. She also accumulated a diverse set of experience in Human Resource, Operations, and Marketing across various industries in the Philippines.
Ritchie graduated with a degree in Psychology from Ateneo de Davao University in the Philippines.
Adnan has over 10 years of experience in finance, having held diverse accounting roles across various industries in Pakistan and the UAE. In 2018, Adnan joined the team and has since played an integral role in Dalma Capital's finance department.