CIO & Co-Founder

RESPONSIBILTIES: As the CIO, Fouad has the ultimate responsibility for all portfolio and investment activities for Ajeej. He is the head of the investment committees for the Ajeej funds, Amplify and Cabrit.

BACKGROUND: Fouad combines both investment and regional operating expertise allowing him to be in touch with, and better understand, the day-to-day operating challenges and opportunities of businesses, particularly important given the Ajeej’s philosophy of investing in businesses not stocks. Fouad spent over 10 years at The Olayan Group and was involved both on the investment as well as on the operational side of the business. At the end of his tenure there he was the General Manager of Olayan’s MENA-focused Food Services Company. Prior to that, worked directly with Ms. Lubna Olayan, CEO of the group in Saudi Arabia, actively managing investments for the group in the MENA Region and oversaw the group’s MENA public equity portfolio (1997-2000). Earlier in his career, Fouad was a Consultant at Arthur Andersen and Accenture.

Fouad completed his MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France and his B.A. in International Relations & Economics from Brown University.

Fouad is also a member of the Investment Committee of Catalyst Partners, a private equity firm focused on alternative energy, and sits on the board of Equiti, a digital broker and trading platform.

IN HIS SPARE TIME: Fouad played collegiate squash, and junior national tennis. Today he continues to swing both rackets as long as his right knee holds out. Away from the courts, Fouad is the archetypal family man, annually planning the perfect Halloween spectacle for his four children and their friends (despite the older two’s interest tapering). He also spends a lot of his time in philanthropy, with a core focus of supporting scholarship programmes for young Palestinians.

QUOTE: “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” - Calvin Coolidge