Meet our panelists
H.E. Manaf El Hajeri - former Minister of Finance & Minister of State for Economic Affairs and Investments, Kuwait
Manaf AlHajeri has over than 35 years of regional and international expertise in finance and investments. He previously served as the State of Kuwait’s Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Economic Affairs and Investments, following his appointment by Amiri Decree 43/2023. Prior to his ministerial role, he spent 16 years as Chief Executive Officer of the Kuwait Financial Centre K.P.S.C. (“Markaz”), a leading Middle East investment institution, and earlier held the position of Deputy Director of Investments at the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development. His broader experience includes serving as a visiting lecturer at Sciences Po and holding board and advisory roles across multiple sectors, including the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority. Mr AlHajeri holds both a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Kuwait University and is a Certified Finance Manager with the Institute of Management Accountants, New Jersey. He is proficient in English, French and Turkish, and in 2014 was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite by the French Republic.
Abdulmohsin A. Almukhaizeem - President & CEO, Kuwait Investment Office, London
Since 2023, Mr Abdulmohsin Almukhaizeem has been serving as the President & CEO of the Kuwait Investment Office (KIO) in London. He also currently serves as Chairman of Wren House Infrastructure
Management Limited in London. Mr Almukhaizeem is a seasoned investment professional with experience in overseeing billions of dollars’ worth of investments as well as strategic and operational
enhancements.
Prior to joining KIO, Mr Almukhaizeem had taken on a number of leadership roles in the investment sector starting at NBK Capital Partners, where he served as an Executive Director and a member of their
Investment Committee (2007-2021), and later Chief Investment Officer at Wafra International Investment Company (2021-2023). He also served on the Boards of numerous companies across the Middle East, in
industries that include healthcare, education, manufacturing, retail, real estate, ICT, ecommerce, hospitality and logistics to name a few.
Mr Almukhaizeem graduated from Kuwait University in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Industrial and Managerial Systems Engineering. In 2003 he obtained an MBA from Claremont Graduate University (USA), followed by a Masters of Science (MS) in Financial Engineering from the same university in 2004. He is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School through their Program for Leadership Development (PLD).
Philipe Jabre - CEO & CIO, Jabre Capital Partners
Philippe Jabre is the founder and the chief investment officer of Jabre Capital Partners S.A., an asset management and advisory business he established in September 2006 in Geneva, Switzerland. Jabre Capital Partners focuses mainly on alternative investment / hedge fund management and long-only management strategies.
Jabre Capital Partners began trading in February 2007 with two funds, and as of the end of July 2007 it manages four funds with total assets of $3.5 billion. The firm has offices in Geneva, the Cayman Islands, and Singapore and employs more than 50 people. In August 2007, Jabre Capital Partners received the “Best Hedge Fund Start-Up” award from Euromoney magazine.
In 1997, Mr. Jabre joined GLG Partners, then a division of Lehman Brothers International (Europe), to oversee asset allocation and manage global convertible bonds and equity-linked investments. In September 2000, he cofounded GLG Partners LP and managed hedge fund and long-only absolute return products, which during his time as investment manager reached more than $7 billion in assets under management across a number of funds. Several funds previously managed by Mr. Jabre at GLG have received industry performance awards. Mr. Jabre completed his MBA at Columbia Business School in 1982.
In 2001, Mr Jabre founded the Association Philippe Jabre (APJ), a not-for-profit organisation that helps underprivileged Lebanese families and young people gain access to education and healthcare. Mr Jabre sits on the Board of the American University of Beirut and Columbia University Business School Board of Overseers.
Hélène Rey, O.B.E., F.B.A. - Lord Bagri Professor of Economics, London Business School
Hélène Rey is the Lord Bagri Professor of Economics at London Business School. Until 2007, she was at Princeton University, as Professor of Economics and International Affairs in the Economics Department and the Woodrow Wilson School. She was elected President of the European Economic Association in 2022.
She is a member of the Group of Thirty, of the Bellagio Group on the international economy and a member of the external advisory group to the managing director of the IMF. She is a member of the Haut Conseil de Stabilité Financière (French Macro Prudential Authority). She was a member of the Conseil d’Analyse Economique until 2012 and on the Board of the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (2010-2014). She writes a regular column for the French newspaper Les Echos.
Hélène Rey received her undergraduate degree from ENSAE, a Master in Engineering Economic Systems from Stanford University and her PhDs from the London School of Economics and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales.