Markaz Management Biographies

Diraar Y. Alghanim
Chairman
Diraar Y. Alghanim has been the Chairman of Kuwait Financial Centre Markaz for over 25 years. In 1978 he established his own company “Alghanim International Corp.” (AIC) in Kuwait. He has always served in Banking, Investment, Insurance and varied Commercial enterprises, locally, regionally and internationally. Presently, he is a Board member of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) and served as Chairman of The Union of Investment Companies from 2004-2009.

Manaf A. Alhajeri
Chief Executive Officer
Manaf Alhajeri joined Markaz as General Manager in March 2004. For 10 years he was Deputy Director - Investment Department at “Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development” (KFAED), where he represented the Boards of Directors and Advisory Committee in Kuwait and Internationally. He also served as technical advisor to KFAED on project financing activities in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.
Bachelor's - Civil Engineering - Kuwait University
Master’s - Civil Engineering - Kuwait University
Certified Finance Manager - Institute of Management Accountant (New Jersey-USA)

Ali H. Khalil
Chief Operating Officer
Ali Khalil joined “Markaz Group” (United States) in 1988 where he held several senior positions. He moved to Kuwait in 1997 and joined Kuwait Financial Centre ‘Markaz’ as Executive Vice President. He is also the President of Gulf Pacific America.
MBA – INSEAD (France)
Master's - Industrial Engineering -University of Texas A&M (USA)
Bachelor's - Industrial Engineering -University of Texas A&M (USA)

Gopal Menon
Executive Vice President - International Investments
Gopal Menon joined Markaz in 2000 as Executive Vice President - Investments from Taib Bank(Bahrain) where he served as Executive Director  and  Head  of  London  Office. He also served in various other organizations in senior positions like Merrill Lynch International Bank as a private banker, Newcrest I nvestment  and  Securities Ltd, London as a Partner and Director, Union Bank  of Switzerland  as  Assistant Director and Head of Middle East Sales, Kuwait Foreign  Trading  and  Contracting Co. as Chief Securities Dealer and Portfolio Advisor.
Masters in Economics -Kerala University (India)

Bassam N. Al-Othman
Executive Vice President - Real Estate (MENA)
Bassam Al-Othman has Over 24 years of experience in real estate development and investment, as well as, project management in the MENA region. Since joining Markaz in 2005 as Senior Vice President, he has led the MENA real estate team in launching and managing a number of funds and portfolios, spanning the whole spectrum of real estate investments themes, from income generation and land trading, to full development of residential and commercial real estate projects. Prior to Markaz, Mr. Al-Othman assumed executive positions at Kuwait Fund for Economic Development, in charge of projects’ appraisal and execution in Lebanon and Egypt.
MBA, American University of Beirut
B.S. in Electrical Engineering, North Carolina A&T State University

Amani I. Al-Omani
Executive Vice President - Equities (MENA)
Amani Al Omani joined Markaz as Assistant Vice President, Local & GCC Investments. Currently, she is Head of the MENA Equities Department; she is also Manager of Mumtaz, co-manager for MIDAF, Islamic, Forsa and Gulf Fund. Prior to that she served seven years with Bank of Kuwait & the Middle East in the Treasury Department as a Foreign Exchange and Money Market dealer.
BA in Accounting & Auditing - Kuwait University (Kuwait)
ACI fellowship - Financial Market Association (Paris)

Khaled A. Chowdhury
Executive Vice President - Financial Management
Khaled Chowdhury joined Markaz in 1984 as Accounts Manager and now he is the Head of Financial Management Department. Prior to Markaz, he worked as Chief Accountant, Audit Manager and held other Senior positions in Kuwait and Bangladesh. He has over 36 years of solid exposure in the field of Accounting, Finance, Audit & Taxation of various Public and Private entities, Banks, Investment Companies and Insurance Industries.
MBA - Major in Finance, Washington Intl. University, MFC, MFP & RFS-American Academy of Financial Management, USA. 
M Com - University of Chittagong, CA - Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (MLC).
CPM & FCPA - Association of Certified Project Accountants, UK.
FCCEA - Association of Certified Corporate Executive Accountants, UK.

Mandagolathur R. Raghu
Senior Vice President - Research
Mandagolathur R. Raghu joined Markaz in September 2006 as Senior Vice President - Research from Wealth Management Group where he served as Director of Investment Management. Prior to that, he worked for CCFI, Saudi Arabia in the area of investment research and advisory. He has over 25 years of experience with specialization in investment analysis and research.
Bachelor of Commerce - Loyola College (Chennai, India) 
CMA (The Institute of Cost Accountants of India) 
CFA Charterholder - CFA Institute (USA) and Past President of CFA Kuwait Society
FRM - Global Association for Risk Professionals (USA)

Ali M. Abdal
Senior Vice President - Human Resources & Administration
Ali M. Abdal joined Markaz in July, 2011 as Senior Vice President, Human Resources & Administration, has (30) years experience in both Engineering and Human Resources fields and before joining Markaz, he held senior positions with Kuwait Oil Sector and several companies in Kuwait, such as KGL; HEISCO and Agility.
Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Wisconsin (Milwaukee) USA

Maha Al-Kadi
Senior Vice President - Support Services
Maha Al-Kadi joined Markaz in 1997. Prior to Markaz, she spent seven years at Banque de la Mediterranee in Beirut where she served in the Credit Department.
BA Business Management - Lebanese American University (Beirut) 

Fahad Al-Abdul Jaleel
Vice President - Private Banking
Fahad Al-Abdul Jaleel heads the Private Banking Department; he joined Markaz as Manager, Client Relations in 2005 from Burgan Bank where he was a Relationship Manager in the Private and International Banking Department for two years. Prior to this, he worked for five years at Domestic Credit Banking Department – Bank of Kuwait and Middle East as a Credit Officer.
BA in Accounting from Kuwait University.
Certificate in credit management from The Institution of Banking Studies.
Chartered Wealth Manager (CWM) by American Academy, Dubai.

Basma Ghareeb
Vice President – Media & Communications
Basma Ghareeb heads the Media & Communications Department; she joined Markaz in 2005 as Manager, Client Relations from the National Bank of Kuwait where she was a Private Banking Manager for six years.
M.Sc. in Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations – Manchester Business School - UK
B.Sc. in Communication with a minor of Business Administration - University of Miami - USA
Chartered Wealth Manager (CWM) by American Academy for Financial Management, Dubai

Leila Badine