TNI leverages the extensive experience and skills of a professional team of bankers, analysts, fund managers and other associates. TNI’s team combines more than 100 years of complex transaction experience and involvement with transactions totaling over AED 147 billion (USD 40 billion) in domestic, regional and international environments. TNI’s senior management continues to emphasize professionalism, integrity, innovation and an unwavering commitment to first-class standards.
Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Osmansoy is the Chief Executive Officer of The National Investor (TNI), an Abu Dhabi based investment and advisory company. TNI is one of the leading capital markets players in the MENA region and an active investor in the local markets. The firm comprises four strategic business divisions covering investment banking, private equity, asset management, and principal investments including real estate. TNI was incorporated in 1994 and is licensed and regulated by the UAE Central Bank and the Dubai Financial Services Authority. TNI was ranked by Banker Middle East as the “Best Private Equity House in the Middle East” and by Euromoney as the “Best Equity House in the UAE”.
Mr. Osmansoy has nearly 20 years of experience in investment banking, private equity, equity derivatives, and activist investing. He has been involved in nearly AED 10 billion worth of equity and debt transactions in the GCC and has spearheaded the expansion of TNI throughout the GCC.
Prior to joining TNI in 2004, Mr. Osmansoy was a Managing Director at Dexter Capital Group, a London-based investment firm that specializes in strategic block investments in Europe, where he was responsible for the origination, evaluation, and execution of activist and special situations investment opportunities. Prior to that, Mr. Osmansoy was a Senior Investment Associate at J.H. Whitney & Co., a leading US private equity firm, where he focused on late-stage venture capital investments and leveraged buyouts in Europe and where he structured and negotiated various growth capital acquisitions.
Before joining J.H. Whitney, he was a Vice President at Morgan Stanley where he was a key member of both the equity derivatives and corporate finance groups in New York and London. In this capacity, he structured and placed a number of equity-linked derivative products and worked on various financial buyer transactions including reverse LBOs/IPOs, public and private placements of equity securities and high yield debt offerings.
Mr. Osmansoy serves as a board director for Colliers International Middle East and Depa United Group.
Mr. Osmansoy graduated from the University of Virginia with a BSc. in Systems Engineering and received his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Jean Ayoub, TNI’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), is an 11-year TNI veteran. He is a senior executive with over 25 years of experience in accounting, auditing, financial management and reporting. His expertise extends into joint venture incubation and growth planning, back office support and corporate governance. Mr. Ayoub has extensive know-how in diverse industries within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, including banking, insurance and technology.
As part of his duties at TNI, Mr. Ayoub’s management oversight covers the overall financial management of the firm, its financial reporting and transparency. He is also responsible for multiple corporate functions, including treasury, risk management, asset and liability management, asset allocation planning and rebalancing, incubation and support, as well as proprietary investments and post-acquisition activities. This is in addition to overseeing all back office support functions.
Mr. Ayoub contributes to the long-term strategic planning of the firm by playing an active role as a member of the Management Committee (Mancom). He is also the Secretary of the TNI Board of Directors, and serves on the Board of several subsidiaries and associate companies related to TNI as well as on the Investment Committee of some of TNI’s funds.
Prior to joining TNI, Mr. Ayoub held the position of Director of Finance for a leading IT group encompassing trading and manufacturing activities in the UAE, where he established the accounting, financial, reporting and corporate governance functions of the group. He started his career as an auditor in Beirut, Lebanon in the early 1980s.
Mr. Ayoub holds a business degree from the Ministry of Education in Lebanon and a MBA degree in Investment & Finance from the University of Hull in the UK.
Mr. Faraj joined TNI in 2009 as Chief Executive Officer of TNI KSA and Managing Director of Investment Banking, UAE. He brings with him over 17 years of experience in corporate finance, private equity, structured equity and activist investing. Mr. Faraj has been involved in nearly AED 20 Bln worth of equity/debt transactions in the financial industry, healthcare, and infrastructure sector. Beyond having international market expertise, Mr. Faraj successfully operates his comprehensive knowledge of emerging markets in the Middle East.
Prior to joining TNI, Mr. Faraj was the Chief Executive Officer at Nomura, Saudi Arabia and Executive Director at Nomura Investment Banking in Bahrain. In this capacity, he was responsible for the establishment, development, and managing of Nomura’s GCC franchise, as well as managing relationships with policy makers, regulators, and key stakeholders. Mr. Faraj has also held senior positions at Nomura International Plc, UK, Fitch IBCA Rating, and Maxwell Stamp in the United Kingdom, where he was as a sovereign ratings adviser and economic policy consultant, concentrating on policy reform projects for CIS, Middle East and Asia. Mr. Faraj has been featured in international media including CNN, CNBC, BBC, and Reuters.
Mr. Faraj holds an LLM in Law and Economics from University of Manchester and was a Doctoral Research Officer at University of Exeter, UK. Additionally, he obtained a BSc in Economy and Finance from University of Wales and a Diploma in European Law and Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam Rijksuniversiteit, Ghent.
Mr. Walid Hayeck heads the Asset Management division at The National Investor (TNI). He has overall responsibility for leading the portfolio management team, guiding the buy-side research activities and implementing the overall business strategy for asset management. Additionally, he is the chairman of the Investment Committee of the division and is ultimately responsible for all portfolio management decisions.
Notably, Mr. Hayeck spearheaded and launched TNI UAE BLUE CHIP FUND, TNI MENA Real Estate Active Fund (equity long strategies) and TNI MENA Special Situations fund (absolute return strategy), and acted since then as principal fund manager. He has more than 14 years of relevant experience, particularly in the MENA capital markets, and has occupied senior positions with regional investment banking and investment management institutions spanning from sell-side to buy-side research to portfolio management. He was appointed head of the Asset Management division at TNI in June 2008.
The Asset Management division has been awarded “Best Asset Management House” by Banker Middle East for three consecutive years in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and both equity long funds have been rated “A” by Standard and Poor’s in January 2009.
Mr. Hayeck started his career in France where he worked for prominent institutions such as BNP Paribas and Groupe Viel & Cie. He moved to the MENA region to set up the regional office of the European credit rating agency Groupe ORT. He also worked with Arab Finance Corporate (Beirut) and Shuaa Capital (Dubai) before joining The National Investor in November 2004.
Mr. Hayeck has a Masters in Economics from Université Saint Joseph (Beirut) and holds a post-graduate diploma from ESCP-EAP (Paris) – Major Finance.
Mr. Zia joined TNI in 2007 as co-head of the Investment Banking division. In 2008, he was appointed head of the newly-created Sales and Client Relations division responsible for fundraisings and client coverage. He is responsible for overall sales, coordination across divisions and relationship management of key clients in UAE and KSA, board members and shareholders. Mr.Zia is a member of the management committee and head of the client forum at TNI.
Prior to joining TNI, Mr. Zia worked in the Equity Capital Markets group at Saudi Hollandi Bank (“SHB”) in Riyadh where he originated, structured and executed primary equity transactions including initial public offerings and rights issues for clients in Saudi Arabia. His specific responsibilities included advising clients on corporate housecleaning and restructuring prior to listing; liaising with the Capital Market Authority to obtain requisite regulatory approvals; and, managing marketing of the issue including organizing investor road shows.
Prior to SHB, Mr. Zia worked at Financial Transaction House (“FTH”) in Jeddah, the corporate finance arm of Arthur Andersen in Saudi Arabia where he structured and executed M&A and financing transactions for clients in Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Zia began his career in the region in 1999 with Arthur Andersen in Dubai where he worked in the global corporate finance group where was involved in advising privately-held middle market clients on capital raising initiatives.
Mr. Zia holds a Master of Science degree in Management from The London School of Economics and Political Science.
Mr. Yahya Jalil is the Director of Private Equity for TNI, in which role he is responsible for making investments in high quality companies throughout the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA), with an emphasis on companies that have a strong business presence in GCC countries, targeting a broad range of sectors with high growth potential, including consumer and retail, industrials, transport and logistics, healthcare, education, financial services and telecom & media. At TNI, Mr. Jalil is also fund manager for TNI’s flagship late stage growth capital and buyout fund – TNI Growth Capital Fund I, where he has made successful investments across the MENASA region and created exit opportunities through negotiated private sales as well as through IPOs. He represents TNI on the boards of Colliers International UAE, and NAS Administration services, as well as on various special purpose vehicles managing TNI’s investments across the GCC.
As Acting Head of the Dubai office for TNI, Mr. Jalil also oversees supervision and control of TNI’s business activities carried out from the DIFC, as well as compliance and reporting, reporting in, on strategic, business and operational matters to Board of TNI Dubai.
Prior to joining TNI, Mr. Jalil has over 10 years of experience in private equity and mergers & acquisitions in New York at leading financial services firms such as Jefferies & Company, GE Capital and Credit Suisse. In his previous private role at GE Capital’s $6 billion private equity group, he led investments across a wide range of transactions spanning early stage venture, mezzanine, later-stage, crossover, PIPES, leveraged and management buyouts and distressed investments.
Mr. Jalil holds an MBA with Honors, from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, where he was a David Starr Jordan Scholar.