Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings Inc. and previous Federal Reserve official Roger Ferguson decided to invest in the latest Dubai financial firm Gateway Partners Group to attract overseas interest.
Gateway was co-founded by financier Viswanathan Shankar, who worked at firms including Bank of America Corp and also ran Standard Chartered Plc’s business in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas. Gateway manages two private equity funds and is active in private credit. It plans more funds next year and will continue to focus on its main markets of South and South East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Since its launch in 2015, the fund has made investments worth US$1.5 billion across 25 portfolio companies.
The investment by Ferguson and SBI comes after Dubai-based boutique advisory firm deNovo Partners was acquired by PJT Partners. Former this year, asset manager Janus Henderson entered the region’s private credit sector by absorbing the alternative investments arm of Kuwait’s largest lender. Ferguson, who served as the Fed’s vice chair between 1999 and 2006, will serve as the fund’s co-chair alongside Mohammed Al Shaibani, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Investment Corp of Dubai, the emirate’s flagship investment arm.
Financial firms ranging from hedge funds to asset managers are increasingly drawn to the Gulf economies, where governments spend billions of dollars to diversify their oil-dependent economies. Investment banks have expanded by adding staff or opening offices in financial centers such as Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai. Ferguson served as Alan Greenspan's top adviser and also led the central bank’s response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. He spent about 12 years as CEO of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America, arriving there from Swiss Re AG, where he headed financial services.
SBI, with US$187 billion (RM783.75 billion) in assets under management, also plans to invest in future Gateway private equity funds and will seek to bring in other Japanese investors, according to a statement. Financial details weren’t disclosed.
“The partnership with Gateway presents an opportunity for SBI Group to further develop its private equity investment strategy”, said Yoshitaka Kitao, president and chief executive officer of SBI.