Saad A AlHassosah also serves on the board of the Prince Sultan Abdulaziz fund, an organization dedicated to supporting female-owned enterprises in the kingdom. He earned his Bachelors degree in Business Administration from the King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Saad A AlHassosah also serves on the board of the Prince Sultan Abdulaziz fund, an organization dedicated to supporting female-owned enterprises in the kingdom. He earned his Bachelors degree in Business Administration from the King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Saad A AlHassosah also serves on the board of the Prince Sultan Abdulaziz fund, an organization dedicated to supporting female-owned enterprises in the kingdom. He earned his Bachelors degree in Business Administration from the King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Could you provide a brief journey of how you arrived where you are today?
I have been in the banking industry for over two decades, working for some of the leading banking institutions in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia.
My past experience includes working in the share trading, private banking and retail banking industry. I was the head of private banking for the eastern province’s main office of Banque Saudi Fransi.
Prior to joining Arbah Capital in 2007, I worked at Samba Financial Group’s eastern province operations as a general manager.
What does your role involve?
My main role is to manage Arbah Capital, the first investment bank in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia, licensed and regulated by the Saudi Arabia Capital Market Authority (CMA).
I am a board member for the Securities Commission at Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Al-Rajhi Steel and Manafea Holding. I am also a board advisor for the Quran Teaching School – Alkhobar, a member of the investment committee at Arbah Capital and chairman of Arbah’s IPO fund board.
What is your greatest achievement to date?
I played a major role in turning Arbah Capital into a profitable entity and which was able to overcome the 2008 crises.
At Samba Financial Group, under my supervision, the company has managed a successful overhaul of business restructuring and streamlining.
Which of your products/services deliver the best results?
We are a provider of asset management and brokerage services that operate within the guidelines of Shariah based principles, specializing in discretionary portfolio management (DPM). We are in the forefront of this industry as Arbah is one of the first Islamic wealth management firms in Saudi Arabia and the GCC. We have also created the real estate and IPO fund in the market.
What are the strengths of your business?
We consider Arbah as one of the leaders in real estate, brokerage and DPM in the eastern region. We have diversified product offering in DPM. Arbah was the first investment bank offerings to manage portfolios less than SAR1 million (US$266, 311 ) in addition to managing portfolios of high net worth individuals. Moreover, Arbah is also offering products in different asset classes such as fiduciary deposits, stocks and real estate. One of the key strengths is the shareholders of the company as they are respected names in the kingdom.
What are the factors contributing to the success of your company?
The company is backed by business-savvy shareholders, a visionary board of directors and experienced personnel. Every person working for the company possesses the required experience and knowledge necessary for performing their respective job functions whether in asset management, Shariah, compliance, IT, HR, sales or the operations department. It is ensured that each employee of the company strongly adheres to the Shariah principles and the laws of the Capital Market Authority (CMA).
What are the obstacles faced in running your business today?
Our main obstacle is the unfair practices in terms of competition with commercial banks. There are some new players emerging in the eastern province and thereby increasing competition. The global economic situation especially in the US and the EU region is also negatively impacting investor sentiment.
Additionally, the political unrest in the Middle East has also created lot of uncertainty among the investors causing the markets to be volatile. These factors are making the investors more risk averse and as a result they prefer to move to safe havens.
Where do you see the Islamic finance industry in the next five years?
I can foresee that businesses will be more challenging in the future now that anyone can take a market share in Saudi Arabia.
Apart from this, the region has seen a tremendous increase in terms of petrodollars which therefore will bring in more investment opportunities in the GCC and emerging markets. But like any other industry lifecycle, we will undoubtedly bear witness to more mergers and acquisitions as it will be a typical case of survival of the fittest.
Name one thing you would like to see change in the world of Islamic finance.
We hope to see a strong and reliable investment bank that can compete with Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan in terms of high performance, building and creating know-how. This can be accomplished by offering diversified product base, properly training the employees in Islamic companies and clearly communicating the Islamic financial concepts.