Timothy C. Collins

Chief Executive Officer, Ripplewood Advisors LLC

Mr. Collins is the CEO of Ripplewood Advisors LLC, the successor to Ripplewood Holdings LLC, which he founded in 1995. Ripplewood has successfully invested in and built companies globally, including in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It has consistently delivered superior returns from investments totaling over $30 billion in enterprise value. Ripplewood played an instrumental role in transforming and strengthening several prominent financial institutions including: AS Citadele banka of Latvia, Commercial International Bank of Egypt and Shinsei Bank of Japan. Ripplewood has invested in a broad range of industries including: telecom, food, real estate, consumer electronics, chemicals and automotive. Many Ripplewood investments remain public companies.

Before founding Ripplewood, Mr. Collins worked for Cummins Engine Company, Lazard Frères & Company and Booz, Allen & Hamilton. Mr. Collins has served on a number of public company boards including RHJ International, Gogo Inc., Citigroup [after it accepted public funds], Commercial International Bank of Egypt, Shinsei Bank Ltd., Asbury Automotive, Advanced Auto and Rental Services Corp. Mr. Collins also served as an independent director at Weather Holdings, a large private emerging markets telecom operator that was sold to VimpelCom.

Mr. Collins sits on the Board of Directors of Banque Saudi Fransi, EFG Hermes and SODIC. He is the

Chairman of AS Citadele banka and is involved in several not-for-profit and public sector activities, including the Council on Foreign Relations, NEOM, McKinsey and Yale Divinity School Advisory Boards and the Trilateral Commission. He is Chairman of the Advisory Board for YSOM, Co-chair of the Advisory Council of the Global Institute for Advanced Study and a member of the Investment Advisory Committee to the New York State Common Retirement Fund.

Mr. Collins has a BA in Philosophy from DePauw University and an MBA in Public and Private Management from Yale University’s School of Management. Mr. Collins received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from DePauw University in 2004 and has been an Adjunct Professor and Visiting Fellow at New York University. He has served as a Visiting Lecturer at the Yale Law School and is Senior Fellow and Director of the Henry P. Becton Fellowship Program at the Yale School of Management.

Gang Chu

Chief Operating Officer & Chairman, Capital Markets Committee, China International Capital Corporation (CICC)

Mr. Gang Chu is the Chief Operating Officer and Chairman of Capital Markets Committee. Previously, he was the Head of Capital Markets and led capital market roles in the IPOs and follow-on offerings of many leading Chinese companies in the Hong Kong and mainland Chinese stock exchanges. He joined CICC in 2009 as the Head of Strategy Research. Prior to CICC, Mr. Chu was a Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager of Citigroup Alternative Investments managing $2 billion fixed income funds and $10 billion in assets. Previously he was the head trader of its Latin America equity derivatives business. He joined Citibank in 1993 in risk management.

Mr. Chu graduated with a B.S. degree from University of Science and Technology of China and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics and Phi Kappa Phi honor from Northeastern University in the US. He was enrolled in the MBA Program of New York University and is a CFA charter holder.

Dr. Jeffrey Chi

Managing Director, Vickers Venture Partners

Dr. Jeffrey Chi is a Managing Director of Vickers Venture Partners, Vice Chairman of Vickers Capital Group and a member of its Investment Committee. He is also former Chairman and currently Ambassador of the Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association. Dr. Chi also sits on the advisory panels of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the commercialization arm of A*Star and the National University of Singapore Division of Engineering and Technology Management. Based out of Shanghai, Dr. Chi heads Vickers Venture’s investments in Asia and has investments in artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, education, e-commerce, healthcare/wellness and financial services (including fintech). Formerly a corporate finance specialist with and Executive Director at Pegasus Capital, he has managed engagements for large and small clients in both the public and private sectors. Prior to Pegasus Capital, Dr. Chi was a senior consultant with the Monitor Group. Dr. Chi's operational background includes seven years on the management team of an engineering group with operations in Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, China and Indonesia. As its Managing Director, he led the group into the Enterprise 50 in 1997 in Singapore. Dr. Chi is a C.F.A. Charter holder and graduated from Cambridge University with 1st Class Honours in Engineering. He earned his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in organizational knowledge and information technology.

Cathryn Chen

Founder & Managing Director, MarketX Ventures

Chen has over 10 years of private investing experience. In 2015, Chen founded MarketX, an investment platform connecting global investors with pre-IPO investments in the US and China. Previously, Chen worked at Deutsche Bank, Rothschild in London, and JP Morgan in Hong Kong, where she contributed to dozens of IPOs and private placements including Alibaba and Xiaomi. At JP Morgan, she ran the Investment Bank and Private Bank Partnership Program. Chen has managed and facilitated secondary investments for 200+ family offices across Asia and the United States.

Prior to founding MarketX, She also worked at EverString, an ad- tech startup that has raised more than $80M, backed by Sequoia Capital & Lightspeed Partners, bringing predictive analytics and Marketing Automation to Fortune 500 enterprises.

In 2008, she co-founded MoneyThink LA, a White House-recognized, 501(c)3 non- profit that provides financial education to urban high school students around the nation. MoneyThink was awarded the Top 10 Social Entrepreneurship Award by President Obama in 2012.

Chen graduated from UCLA and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Heather D. Ceresini

Managing Director, Portfolio Management, EJF Capital

Ms. Ceresini joined EJF in 2013 and is responsible for the structuring, execution and monitoring of EJF’s private bank debt investments as well as the implementation of equity financings for bank issuers. In addition, she leads the execution of EJF’s securitization strategies including bank subordinated debt and bank and insurance trust preferred securities. She has also managed the resolution of the firm’s TARP portfolio. She has 25 years of experience working with banks and a variety of other financial institutions. Previously, Ms. Ceresini was a Managing Director at Promontory Interfinancial Network and spent 19 years at FBR Capital Markets, most recently in the Financial Institutions investment banking group where she was responsible for the structuring and execution of the firm’s most complex transactions. Prior to investment banking, Ms. Ceresini was a senior analyst in the community bank research group at FBR. Ms. Ceresini holds a BS in Finance from Illinois State University.

Cameron Brownjohn

Chief Executive Officer, Federation Asset Management

Cameron Brownjohn is a founding member of Federation. Previously, Cameron led Macquarie Capital’s Principal Investment division for Australia and New Zealand. He has over twenty years of experience in the financial services industry, having lived and worked in Australia, Asia, Europe, and the United States over this period. His investing experience spans all areas relevant to Federation, including leadership of or involvement in a number of successful investments in the infrastructure, real estate, financial institutions, healthcare, general industrials, resources, media, and telecommunications sectors. Cameron holds degrees in Law and Commerce with First Class Honours. He is an active member of the community and serves as Chairman of Special Olympics Australia.

Thomas P. Bossert

Chief Strategy Officer, Trinity Cyber, Inc.

Mr. Bossert is the Chief Strategy Officer at Trinity Cyber, Inc., a disruptive technology company fundamentally redefining commercial cybersecurity. He’s the National Security Analyst for ABC News, and a respected risk management expert.

Tom was homeland security advisor to two U.S. Presidents, serving as the Nation’s chief risk officer and senior most advisor on cybersecurity, homeland security, counterterrorism, and global health security policy, managing a range of domestic and transnational security issues and consequence management operations. Tom is a senior executive with extensive experience in operational and strategic management roles. He founded and led a management consulting business that supported commercial clients as they assessed and managed multifaceted, complex risk structures and compliance requirements.

Tom was born and raised in Quakertown, PA. He is a Senior Fellow at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the U.S. Atlantic Council. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and his law degree from The George Washington University Law School. Tom was an Engalitcheff Scholar on Comparative Political and Economic Systems at Georgetown University and guest lectures at the Naval Post Graduate School, Center for Homeland Defense and Security.

Dr. Francisco Blanch

Head of Global Commodities, Derivatives Research & Cross-Asset Quantitative Investment Strategies, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Francisco Blanch is head of Global Commodities, Equity Derivatives and Cross-Asset Quantitative Investment Strategies at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research, and was also head of Global Asset Allocation Research between 2010 and 2012. Based in New York, Blanch is also a member of the Research Investment and Operating Management Committees.

Blanch joined Merrill Lynch in London in April 2005. He developed the ICE Merrill Lynch Commodity index eXtra (MLCX) and 500+ related investable strategies in asset classes as diverse as commodities, equities, fixed income, and foreign exchange.

Research produced by the Commodities, Asset Allocation, and Global Derivatives teams has been recognized by Institutional Investor, Extel, Greenwich, Bloomberg, and Energy Risk, among others. Blanch appears regularly on CNBC, Bloomberg TV and CNN, and his research has been publicized in media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times and Washington Post.

Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, Blanch was an energy economist focusing on global oil and gas in the Commodity Research group at Goldman Sachs & Co. and consulted for the European Commission.

He received a doctorate in economics from Complutense University of Madrid and a master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he was a Teaching Fellow in financial markets. He also completed graduate work in economics at the University of California at Berkeley and was a Korea Foundation fellow at Seoul National University.

His Excellency Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi

Director General, Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO)

H.E. Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi is the Director General of the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO). He leads the organisation’s efforts to grow and diversify Abu Dhabi’s economy through private sector investment. He also oversees strategic initiatives that support the emirate’s economic growth and reputation on the world stage.

Prior to joining ADIO, His Excellency held leadership roles at various institutions including Emirates NBD, Mubadala and Citibank. He also sits on a number of boards including AXA GCIC and EPG (Emirates Post Group)

His Excellency holds a PhD in Economics from the Imperial College London, and graduate degrees from Columbia University and London Business School.

Chavan Bhogaita

Managing Director & Head of Market Insights & Strategy, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)

Chavan Bhogaita currently works as Managing Director & Head of Market Insights and Strategy at First Abu Dhabi Bank. Earlier, he worked with the Alternative Investments and Fixed Income teams within NBAD’s Global Markets Division. He joined NBAD in 2009, specialising in GCC credit markets (bonds and sukuk) across all sectors. He has circa 25 years of professional experience in banking and finance, of which 18 years have been in credit research and analysis. His previous roles include Head of Middle East Credit Research at HSBC (Dubai), Head of Credit Research at Commerzbank (London), and senior credit analyst at Bear Stearns (London), and 6 years prior to his time in financial markets were spent in the areas of corporate recovery & insolvency, auditing, and corporate finance in the UK.

Since he joined NBAD (now FAB), Chavan has focused on the GCC fixed income markets and as such he spends much of his time talking to institutional investors around the world providing them with his analysis, insights and views on this market and the entities/issuers within it. He also runs the Market Insights & Strategy team at the bank.

Chavan was the main project manager and MC for the Global Financial Markets Forum which had become established as one of the most prominent financial markets events in MENA over the last decade. At this gathering he has interviewed on stage prominent individuals such as David Cameron, Tony Blair, Nicholas Sarkozy, General Colin Powell, Dr Mohammed El Erian, Dr Ben Bernanke, and Dr Larry Summers among others.

Randolph Bell

Director, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

Randolph Bell is the Director of the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center, where he oversees the Center’s research and programs in Washington and elsewhere, including the annual Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi. He also serves as the Co-Director of the Atlantic Council’s Task Force on US Nuclear Energy Leadership. He joined the Global Energy Center in 2017 as its Director of Business Strategies. From 2014–2016, Mr. Bell led the launch of the Center as Director of Business Development and New Ventures for the Atlantic Council.

From 2011–2014, Mr. Bell was managing director at the International Institute for Strategic Studies–US, where in addition to holding overall responsibility for the operations and programming of the IISS’s Washington, DC office he published extensively on African, South Asian-, and cyber security issues. From 2010–2011, he was manager of national security at the Markle Foundation, where he worked on cyber security, intelligence community information sharing, and technology policy issues.

Mr. Bell has an MPP from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he was a Public Service and Belfer International and Global Affairs Fellow, and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College.

Stephen Barnett

Executive Director, Business Development, Abu Dhabi Global Market

Mr Steve Barnett leads the Business Development Division of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) overseeing the strategy and business development to support ADGM’s continued growth as an international financial centre. Mr Barnett first worked on the ADGM development initiative in September of 2013 as a Partner with the Strategy & Operations consulting practice in Deloitte. He made the permanent move to his current role in 2014.

Over more than 30 years of industry experience, Mr Barnett has held numerous leadership roles within major financial services consultancy firms including leading Deloitte’s Risk and Regulation practice and their Operational Effectiveness practice for buy-side and sell-side capital markets firms.

Mr Barnett holds a Bachelor of Humanities degree from the University of London and is a Fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasurers.

Thomas Bardawil

Director, Plug & Play Smart Cities

Kamran S. Bajwa

Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Kamran Bajwa handles highly complex international legal matters with a focus on matters relating to the Middle East and emerging markets. Kamran leads the Middle East practice for Kirkland & Ellis which has become the largest law firm globally for Private Equity and M&A. Kamran represents Middle East sovereign wealth funds and family offices for investments into the U.S., Europe, and China and he also represents US companies conducting M&A activity and establishing joint ventures in the Middle East. He has extensive experience in all areas of corporate law including securities regulations, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, investment funds, corporate finance and Islamic finance.

Prior to rejoining Kirkland in 2011, Kamran spent eight years as a corporate lawyer and business advisor in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Cairo, Egypt. His experience during this time included serving as the Chief Legal Officer for EFG-Hermes, where he established the first in-house legal department and led several major new product launches, investment fund formations and corporate acquisitions.

Kamran is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School (1999) and is fluent in Arabic.

Jamil Asfour

Executive Director, Technology Partnerships, Abu Dhabi Investment Office

Jamil Asfour is the Executive Director of Technology Partnerships at the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO). He brings a unique blend of technical and business acumen when focusing on operational excellence and business impact through digital disruption. As a ‘techie’, Jamil has hands on experience in ubiquitous computing, data centers, IoT, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Throughout his career, Jamil has identified gaps stalling innovation, organizational integration and growth pre and post M&A deals. He has also led the development of long-term global technology partnerships within government and private sector organizations. Jamil brings more than 18 years of experience working for Fortune 500 companies (Apple, IBM, HPE, E&Y) across the globe. He has held several executive positions, managed special and secret projects including more than 20 M&A deals. Jamil’s recent work experience focused on developing ubiquitous computing service initiatives to shape privacy and security policies for government and consumer entities. Jamil holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering specializing in Cryptography from The University of Texas at Austin and two postgraduate degrees, a Diploma in Management and Leadership from MIT and an MBA from The University of Oxford. He also holds over 10 certificates in various technology specializations and is an active member of several engineering societies in the US, UK, Saudi, Jordan and Australia. He is also a widely known contributor to the Global Innovation Index and the Global Connectivity Index.

Fadi Arbid

Founding Partner & Chief Investment Officer, Amwal Capital Partners

Fadi is the Founding Partner and CIO of Amwal Capital Partners based in Riyadh.

Prior to co-founding Amwal Capital Partners, Fadi was the Founding Partner of Amwal AlKhaleej, a leading MENA private equity firm based in Riyadh. Earlier in his career, Fadi held various consulting, banking, and corporate positions working as an Engagement Manager at Booz Allen Hamilton in Europe and the Middle East, as an associate at Citigroup’s Schroder Salomon Smith Barney in the Investment Banking division in London, and as a Brand Manager for German Multinational Company Henkel in Paris.

Fadi serves on the boards and committees of several private companies across the region. Fadi also serves on the Wharton School Global Executive Board, and is a YPO member, Riyadh Chapter.

Fadi holds an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and masters from the Lancaster University Management School, and Nantes Graduate School of Management. Fadi is fluent in English, French, Arabic and Italian.

Marina Antonopoulou

Marine Program Lead, Emirates Nature - WWF

With more than 15 years of experience in nature conservation and environmental policy, Marina is Head of the Marine Programme of Emirates Nature-WWF, the UAE’s leading non-profit organisation linked with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) global network. An avid diver, she developed an early passion for the marine environment and coastal communities. She holds an Environmental Science Masters’ Degree with the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow and a Diploma on International Oceans Law and Policy with the University of Virginia. Marina’s experience ranges from field-based conservation, environmental planning, to government and policy engagement in the UAE and MENA region. Since joining Emirates Nature-WWF in 2010, Marina has been instrumental in reshaping its marine conservation strategy placing a stronger focus on the importance of marine ecosystems for the long-term sustainability of the UAE’s society and economy. She has represented Emirates Nature and WWF International in various international policy fora; such as the Convention of Biological Diversity, the Ramsar Convention for the Conservation of Wetlands, and the Convention of Migratory Species. Her ambition is to drive awareness of businesses and policy makers towards the socio-economic benefits of healthy marine ecosystems.

Yusuf Abdulla Yusuf Akbar Alireza

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, ARP Global Capital

Mr. Alireza recently moved to Dubai, UAE in August 2017 after being away from the Middle East for the past 30 years. In June 2018, him and his partner, Krishna Rao, have set up an alternative investment platform called ARP Global Capital Limited. The fund management company is registered in the DIFC (Dubai International Financial City) and invests in global markets.

From 2012 to 2016 Mr. Alireza was the Chief Executive Officer of Noble Group, at the time, the largest Asian commodity firm and a Fortune 100 company.

Mr. Alireza started his career at Goldman Sachs & Co where he spent 20 years working in their NY, London and HK offices. His last role was as President of Goldman Sachs Asia and a member of the firm’s Global Management Committee. He began working at Goldman Sachs New York in 1992, transferring to the firm’s London office in 1997 and becoming the Head of EMEA sales and structuring efforts. He relocated to Hong Kong in 2008, where he managed the Asia Pacific Sales and Trading Businesses. In 2004 he became the first Arab Partner in the 140-year history of the firm and in 2010 became the only Arab to ever be elected to the firm’s Global Management Committee and at the time was the youngest member of the committee.

Mr. Alireza serves on the Board of the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB), as well as on the NBB Executive Committee & Nomination and Remuneration Committee, the board of Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), the Global Board of Room to Read, the Board of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies Georgetown University as well as on the board of Bahrain Ship Repairing & Engineering Company.

Mr. Alireza grew up in Bahrain (Dual Bahrain and UK Nationality) but moved to the US to attend university in 1992. He received a joint master’s and bachelor’s degree from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Services at Georgetown University, graduating with highest honors and completing both the degrees in 4 years. He completed his bachelor’s studies in international economics and econometrics, pursuing a master’s degree in Arab Studies and international relations and affairs.

Mr. Alireza is married to Dina Khreino-Alireza and they have three children.

Fahad Al Sharekh

Co-Founder & General Partner, Tech Invest

Founded TechInvest in 2015 to provide an opportunity for Middle East investors to obtain exposure to private investment opportunities in the technology sector. Techinvest advised and structured several deals in early, growth and late stage VC totaling over $600m in money raised. Over 21 years’ experience in global business development, with expertise and specialization in the IT and VC field. Initiated and executed targeted strategies to facilitate joint ventures, partnerships, startups, account generation and public listings of holdings in several capital financial markets including NASDAQ, KSE and DIFC. As CEO of Sakhr Software, he received 3 US patents from US PTO office for Sakhr’s proprietary technologies. Played key role in founding 1st Saudi Arabia ISP AWalNet which was acquired by STC in 2006. Developed the first Multilingual Speech to Speech app 'S2S', Language Buddy launched on the App Store in 2009 and was one of the first adopters of "The Cloud". Initiated and supervised the transformation of the 30 year old family IT business company and publicly listing the company on KSE in 2006 under the new name Al Alamiah Technology Group ATG.

Fahad is currently Vice Chairman of Global Investment House – KSA, Fahad is also on the Advisory Board of the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) in the UAE, which is the premier foreign direct investment-focused event and an initiative of the UAE Ministry of Economy. Fahad is a consultant at the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority, KDIPA. Previously a Board Member and subsequently Chairman, of Al Mal Investment Company, which is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange, and served on several boards including ATG, Saftec, AwalNet. Fahad serves as a director on the Board of CODED, the First Coding Academy in the GCC, which educates and trains participants in software development and programming using world-class curriculum and instruction by industry experts. The Kuwait-based company is aimed at young men and women across MENA, with engagement on Barmej.com (CODED’s online school) exceeding 200,000 coders (and future entrepreneurs).

Abdullah Al Shaksy

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Phaze Ventures

Abdullah Al-Shaksy is the Co-Founder and CEO of Phaze Ventures, General Partner of SparkLabs Energy accelerator, Board Member of Akeed, eMushrif, PhazeRo and Shaksy Group, and board observer at Interface Fluidics. Abdullah previously headed Group Operations and Investments at Shaksy Group. Abdullah has had over 10 years’ experience managing both public and private equity portfolios. Prior to this Abdullah studied Mathematics & Computer Science at University of Toronto, trained at Investcorp’s INSEAD Leadership Program, as well as Dubai Bank Investment division, and has been a guest lecturer at Harbour.Space University high-tech entrepreneurship program.

Phaze Ventures is a venture capital firm and innovation platform founded to transform the region by unlocking the untapped potential of our youth, start ups and corporates. Headquartered in Oman, our goal is to enable innovation through early stage investments and strategic partnerships.

Our insights are informed by our deep collaborations, network and technical team and our focus is on early stage technology investments from pre-seed to series-A.