"Mumtalakat's vision is global. Our business will embrace investment opportunities from around the world and within Bahrain. To ensure Mumtalakat has the insight and know how to achieve its investment objectives, talented individuals from Bahrain and around the world make up the team that drives Mumtalakat. Find out more about the people who lead Mumtalakat below."

Mr. Mahmood Hashim Al Kooheji
Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Mahmood Hashim Al Kooheji began his career in BAPCO as an Industrial Engineer before joining the Ministry of Finance and National Economy (MOFNE) in 1988. From 1994 to 2005, he served as the Director of Government Shareholdings Directorate before being appointed Assistant Undersecretary of Economic Affairs. During this time he was actively involved in the Bahrain Economic Development Board’s initiative which led to the establishment of Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company B.S.C. (c). Mr. Al Kooheji was the Chief Executive Officer of Tamkeen from 2011 to 2012.

Chairman of Aluminum Bahrain, (“ALBA”) Mr. Al Kooheji also serves on a number of boards in the Kingdom of Bahrain and outside the country.

He holds a Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Staffordshire University, and an MBA, from the Henley College of Management, Brunel University.

Mr. Serge Lepine
Chief Investment Officer
 
Mr. Serge Lepine is responsible for the strategic asset allocation of Mumtalakat’s funds as well as managing the long-term growth of Mumtalakat’s investment portfolio.
 
Mr. Lepine has more than 20 years financial experience and has worked in Canada, Asia and the GCC. Within the GCC, he has worked at both the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and more recently the Abu Dhabi Investment Council. While in Asia, Mr. Lepine participated in the establishment of the Asian private equity activities of Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (“CDPQ”), one of Canada’s largest institutional investors. Prior to leaving Canada, he worked for CDPQ, as well as other leading financial institutions, primarily in the fields of direct investment, mergers and acquisitions advisory and corporate finance.

Mr. Lepine has a Bachelor of Business Administration (Finance & Marketing) from Bishop’s University (Canada) and has completed the Maîtrise ès Science (MSc) class curriculum in Corporate Finance at Sherbrooke University (Canada).

Mr. Tony Robinson
Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Robinson was appointed as Chief Financial Officer in August  2012. He joined Mumtalakat in April 2011 as Investment Manager and Coordinator Direct Investments. His responsibilities include monitoring the financial data of the portfolio companies, supporting the Finance departments operations, along with supporting the investment team, and business development.

Prior to joining Mumtalakat, Mr. Robinson held a project management position with RAC Insurance. Formerly, he held different positions at Investcorp Bank in Bahrain for 14 years, where he started as Senior Manager - Financial Controls,then in 1998 he became Chief Internal Auditor until 2004 when he took up a role as the bank's Group Financial Controller. Prior to Investcorp, Mr. Robinson held various positions in the accounting profession as an auditor.

Graduating from the Western Australia Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Business (Accounting), Mr. Robinson then continued his studies at Curtin University in Perth, Australia gaining a Masters degree in Taxation. Mr.Robinson is a Chartered Accountant holding membership with both the Australian and English institutes of Chartered Accountants.

Mr. Damien Balmet
Vice President Corporate Development and Communications

Responsible for Mumtalakat’s strategic and business development agenda along with communications, Mr. Damien Balmet is Mumtalakat’s Vice President Corporate Development and Communications.  With 11 years of experience in consulting, Mr. Balmet advises on the company's strategic plan and recommends business development proposals.  He also brings significant international consulting experience to Mumtalakat having advised global companies on their corporate strategies in Europe and the Middle East whilst working for Arthur D. Little and A.T. Kearney.

Mr. Balmet is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique (France) and also holds a Master of Science in Economics from the Colorado School of Mines (USA).

Mr. Zulfe Ali
Vice President Corporate Finance

Mr. Zulfe Ali has more than 15 years of experience in investment banking across a variety of debt and equity origination and  distribution roles. He heads the Corporate Finance function at  Mumtalakat and plays a key role in defining and implementing  Mumtalakat’s capital structure and financing strategy. Prior to joining  Mumtalakat, he worked in the Acquisition and Leveraged Finance group of JPMorgan in both London and New York. Prior to that, he worked at Banc of America Securities in San Francisco as a member of the Institutional Equities team.

Mr. Ali holds an MBA from Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Carleton College in the U.S.

Mr. Patrick Beckett
Vice President Coordinator Direct Investments

Mr. Patrick Beckett joined Mumtalakat in June 2007 as Vice President and Coordinator of Direct Investment. In this role, Mr. Beckett handles the monitoring of the portfolio companies, team support and business development.

Prior to this he was the Group CFO of Gulf Aluminium Rolling Mill Co. (Bahrain).  During his time as Group CFO, Mr. Beckett’s responsibilities included the corporate management of the group subsidiaries and targeting and negotiating acquisitions worldwide. He was also in charge of handling the commercial, fiscal and legal aspects of each Newco and negotiating with local banks in each overseas territory in order to arrange leveraged funding.  his other posts include; Commercial Manager – Inchcape & Co plc and Group Accountant – Crane Fruehauf plc.

Graduating from Sheffield University, England, with a Bachelors in Engineering with Business Studies, Mr. Beckett then continued with further education and qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant.


Mr. Joseph Kirikian
Vice President, Investments

Mr. Joseph Kirikian joined Mumtalakat in January 2010 as Investment Manager in the Private Equity team and is currently responsible for the execution and analysis of investment/divestment activities. He also looks at the development and performance of a number of portfolio companies, in addition to overseeing and supporting the Representative Board of Directors.

Prior to joining Mumtalakat, he worked for Istithmar World on restructuring portfolio assets in Dubai.  Mr. Kirikian started his career in investment banking in 1999, initially working for a boutique M&A advisory firm in Los Angeles primarily concentrating on sell-side transactions and later joined the Bear Stearns Transportation and Logistics group in New York.

Mr. Kirikian holds an MBA from the Wharton School, a CFA designation and a BS in finance, magna cum laude, from California State University, Northridge.


Mr. Raed Fakhri
Vice President, Investments

Mr. Raed Fakhri joined Mumtalakat as Vice President Investments in March 2013. Mr. Fakhri enjoys 18 years of experience in various sectors, mainly in business development and investment banking. Prior to his current role, Mr. Fakhri co-founded BDI Partners in 2010 and headed the firm as a Managing Director. His role was focused on business consulting in business development and investments, managing opportunities throughout the process. He spent 3 years in Capivest Investment Bank, heading the Investment Department. He was mainly engaged in identifying and originating potential investments. In connection, he was leading and managing a team producing and presenting investment appraisals and recommendations for potential investments by analyzing financial reports and evaluating the associated risks and returns. Prior to that, Mr. Fakhri was with Bahrain Telecommunication Company (Batelco) for 9 years. Before leaving as a Senior Manager, in New Business Development Unit, he was responsible for start-ups, mergers and acquisitions. Earlier, he spent 3 years with Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC) as Control Systems Engineer and Project Engineer.

Mr. Fakhri holds an Executive MBA from the University of Bahrain, and Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering Technology from University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida,USA.

Mr. Ahmed Janahi
Investment Manager

Mr. Ahmed Janahi joined Mumtalakat in September 2007. As an Investment Manager, amongst other responsibilities, he is responsible for overseeing and actively participating in monitoring developments of Mumtalakat’s real estate investment portfolio as well as overseeing new investment/divestment opportunities. Prior to his move to Mumtalakat, he worked for Bahrain Petroleum Co. (Bapco) as a Senior Engineer - Planning and Economics in the company’s International Market division. He remained in this position for several years developing his analytic and planning skills. Mr. Janahi holds a Bachelor Degree in Chemical Engineering. He also holds an MBA with honours, from University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.


Shaikh Hamed Al Khalifa
Investment Manager

Shaikh Hamed Al Khalifa joined Mumtalakat in September 2012 as Investment Manager and is responsible for overseeing and monitoring the developments of Mumtalakat’s real estate investment portfolio.

Shaikh Hamed started his career in 2002 as Senior Telecommunications Engineer in the Ministry of Transportation. Prior to joining Mumtalakat, he was the General Director of Urban Planning at the Ministry of Municipality Affairs and Urban Planning, where he took the lead in different projects such as Zone Bahrain and Block 338. Before that, he was appointed Project Manager at the Bahrain Economic Development Board where he worked closely on the National Plan of 2030. He was also appointed by the Prime Minister as Chairman of Bahrain Internet Exchange from 2003 to 2004, and currently sits on the board of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.

Shaikh Hamed holds a Masters degree in Engineering Management and a B.S. in Systems Analysis Engineering, both from The George Washington University, USA.

Ms. Yara Faraj
Investment Manager

Ms. Yara Faraj joined Mumtalakat in November 2010 as Investment Manager. Her responsibilities include monitoring and evaluating the performance of portfolio companies, including identifying value creating opportunities for those companies, in addition to identifying investment/divestment opportunities to achieve Mumtalakat’s investment objectives. Ms. Faraj joined from Ithmaar Bank, where she worked in both the Private Banking and Investment Banking/Private Equity divisions during her four year period at the organisation. In her role in the Investment Banking division she was responsible for evaluation of investment opportunities, review and monitoring of investment portfolio performance, investment strategy preparation, and restructuring and divestment opportunities of investment portfolios for subsidiary companies. Prior to Ithmaar Bank, Ms. Faraj was responsible for Placement and Client Relationship management at Securities and Investment Company (SICO) and BBK, and also performed a consultancy role at Ernst & Young.

Ms. Faraj holds an MBA from Bentley College, and a BSC from Boston University, both in Massachusetts, USA.


Mr. Ashwin Kumar
Investment Manager

Mr. Ashwin Vijai Kumar joined Mumtalakat in August 2008 in the Investment department.  As the Investment Manager responsible for the aviation and aerospace sector, he is responsible for the analysis and execution of investment/divestment decisions as well as the monitoring and development of the portfolio companies in the sector.

 

Prior to joining Mumtalakat, Mr. Kumar worked for a boutique private equity firm in Bahrain having executed deals in  the financial services, automotive and steel manufacturing sectors. He also worked for the investment banking division of Bank of America in India, where he was focusing on the consumer and retail sector. Previously, he also worked for GE Healthcare in Financial Planning and Analysis at the head-quarters in Milwaukee, WI, USA.

 

Mr. Ashwin is a chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and is currently pursuing the Executive MBA program from INSEAD, France.

Mr. Sandeep Surana
Investment Manager

Mr. Sandeep Surana joined the Private Equity - Direct Investments team of Mumtalakat in August 2008. As an Investment Manager, he is responsible for the analysis and execution of investment and divestment activities in the Metals sector, the development and performance of the related portfolio companies as well as supporting the respective Board of Directors. In addition to working on the Metals sector, he has also been involved in several real estate transactions at Mumtalakat.

Mr. Surana started his career in the risk management division of ICICI Bank Ltd, where he was in charge of assessing credit and market risk of ICICI Bank’s portfolio. Prior to joining Mumtalakat,he worked as Senior Manager at Srei Venture Capital Ltd, a private equity firm focusing on investments in the Indian infrastructure sector.

Mr. Surana holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade and a B.Com from St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta. He is a CFA Charter holder and has also been awarded the FRM designation.

Mr. Arvind Mathur
General Counsel and Vice President, Legal

Mr. Arvind Mathur heads the Legal Department at Mumtalakat and is responsible for managing and overseeing Mumtalakat’s legal affairs at both the corporate level and on the investment side of Mumtalakat’s business.

He is a U.S corporate lawyer with 10 years transactional experience which includes corporate finance transactions and private M&A. He has practiced corporate law in New York and in Asia. He started his legal career in New York including in the New York office of Sullivan & Cromwell. He subsequently joined the Singapore office of Latham & Watkins where his practice primarily focused on capital market transactions in Singapore and in the emerging markets of India and Indonesia, representing both issuers and underwriters.

He is a member of the New York Bar and California Bar.

Mr. Mathur holds a Masters of Law (LL.M) from Columbia University, New York and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B (Hons.)) from the University of Wollongong (Australia). In addition to his legal qualifications, he holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (BE (Hons.)) from the University of Wollongong and prior to law school, worked at BHP Billiton, Port Kembla.

Ms. Lamees Al Baharna, CFA
Vice President, Risk

Ms. Lamees Al Baharna joined Mumtalakat in October 2010 as Vice President in the Risk department. In this role, she is responsible for risk reporting, risk models overseeing and development, and audit monitoring and coordination.

Ms. Lamees Al Bahrana has over 25 years experience within the banking and financial services industry. Her most recent role was a Vice President in Gulf International Bank which she joined in 1996 and was responsible for credit risk management and Basel II implementation. Prior to that Lamees was working at Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch Bahrain as Senior Compliance & Operations officer and Senior Account Executive responsible for investment advice and marketing of financial products to high net worth individuals.

Ms. Al Baharna was awarded her CFA charter in 1996 and is currently the Vice President of CFA Bahrain. She is also member of the Basel II Certification Institute. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from McGill University and is Series 7 and 8 registered with the National Association of Securities Dealers.


Mrs. Dana Buheji
HR Senior Manager

Mrs. Dana Buheji started working for Mumtalakat in 2007 and is now the Human Resources Senior Manager. Her responsibilities include overseeing the HR functions within the organisation as well as supporting the HR needs of Mumtalakat’s portfolio companies. Prior to her move to Mumtalakat, Mrs. Buheji worked for the Ministry of Finance. During her five year post at the Ministry, she held the position of Senior Financial Analyst and was then later promoted to Head of Privatisation, Government Shareholding Directorate. Whilst in this role, she was in charge of the coordination and success of all Government privatisation initiatives.

A graduate from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, Mrs. Buheji has a Bachelor of Commerce degree majoring in Finance and minoring in MIS. She also holds a CIPD Certificate in Personnel Practice from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), UK. Currently, she is undertaking a CIPD Postgraduate Diploma Human Resources Management.

Mr. Ahmed Al Ali
Finance Manager

Having spent much of his early career working within the Ministry of Finance in the Investment Department as the Head of Operations, Mr. Ahmed Al-Ali was responsible for back-office processing of transactions of directly managed investments as well as the periodical management of information systems amongst other responsibilities. In January 2007, Mr. Al-Ali moved from the Ministry to Mumtalakat where he continues to look after the processing of transactions with regards to investment and divestment activities as well as managing Mumtalakat's liquidity and financing facilities. Mr. Al-Ali has a BSc Degree in Accounting from the University of Bahrain. In 2006 he completed the Executive Management Development Program, Darden school of Business Administration, University of Virginia.

Mr. Varghese Mathew
Finance Manager
 
Mr. Varghese Mathew joined Mumtalakat as Financial Controller in April 2008. In this role Mr. Mathew is responsible for overseeing Mumtalakat’s corporate accounting; preparing consolidated financial information; assisting in new financial systems; preparing budgets; assisting business planning and forecasts; liaising with internal and external auditors and ensuring that Mumtalakat’s financial reporting is compliant with IFRS. Previously, he was Assistant Manager at Ernst & Young, Bahrain. Mr. Mathew is an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.



Mr. Khaled Janahi
IT Manager

Mr. Khaled Janahi joined Mumtalakat in August 2012 as IT Manager. Prior to joining Mumtalakat, Mr. Janahi was IT services project leader for Bapco where he played an instrumental role in Bapco's IT infrastructure upgrade programme, including introducing innovative virtualisation technology.

He started his IT career in 1982 as an analyst programmer for Gulf Air where he spent15 years with the airline leading a number of projects related to marketing applications and technical business development. In 1998, he joined the Sabre Group where he served as project manager for service delivery and business relations.

Mr. Janahi holds diplomas in Basic Supervision and Middle Management from Bahrain University as well as ILM Level 2 and ITIL Foundation V3 certifications.



Mr. Hadi Al Alawi
Legal Affairs Manager

Mr. Hadi Al Alawi joined Mumtalakat in July 2008 and currently holds the role of Manager the Legal Affairs Department. His responsibilities include advising the board, management, and other portfolio companies on all the Bahrain Law matters. In addition, he is Mumtalakat’s Regulatory and Compliance Officer with the responsibility of ensuring compliance with the Bahrain Laws also liaising with the Parliament, the National Audit Court, the Tender Board and other governmental entities on behalf of Mumtalakat.

 

Prior to joining Mumtalakat, Mr. Al Alawi spent almost four years in private practice as a legal adviser with a leading law firm in Bahrain where he specialized in corporate advisory work and litigation.

 

Mr. Al Alawi holds a B.Sc. in Law from the University of Bahrain and licensed to practice law in Bahrain since 2005.

Mrs. Jenan Bukamal
Government Relations Manager

Mrs. Jenan Bukamal joined Mumtalakat in May 2008. As Government Relations Manager, Mrs. Bukamal represents Mumtalakat on various Government Relations issues. She is responsible for the coordination and liaison with government related entities on matters related to Mumtalakat and its portfolio companies including Parliament, Shura Council, National Audit Court, Cabinet Affairs, Central Informatics Organization, and the Ministry of Finance.  She also takes an active role in all Arabic correspondences and official publications reviews.

 

Mrs. Bukamal started her career in 1985 as an Arabic Teacher in Public Secondary Schools. She then took an active role in establishing the Learning Resources Centre in Isa  Town Secondary School where she joined as Learning Resources Specialist. Mrs. Bukamal was responsible for overseeing the Learning Resources Centers in various Public Secondary Schools, in addition to leading one of the programmes for the School Management Diploma Programme. Mrs. Bukamal was Board Member and Technical Committee Member from 1992 to 2006 in Isa Town Secondary School. In 2004, she was the first to lead the Tracks Unification System in Isa Town Secondary School, and also took an active role in leading Injaz’s programme in the same school. She then represented the Ministry of Education as  Educational Consultant for the Quality Assurance Authority which was initiated by the Economic Development Board in 2006. Prior to joining Mumtalakat, she worked for Minister’s Office in the Ministry of Education to handle the Shura and Parliament related matters.

 

Amongst her academic qualification, Mrs. Bukamal holds a BA in Arabic and Education and a High Diploma in Educational Technology  from the University of Bahrain.