Morgan Stanley Appoints Wealth Head for Saudi Arabia, Taps Amex

Stephen Harris

27 March 2008

Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management has appointed Samy Al Habal as head of its Saudi Arabia business. Mr Al Habal, who currently heads PWM’s Middle East coverage team in Geneva, will report to Fahad Almubarak and London-based managing director Ausaf Abbas. He will be responsible for all aspects of building and growing Morgan Stanley’s PWM business in Saudi Arabia and will be relocating to Riyadh in the near future. Mr Al Habal joined Morgan Stanley in 2001, prior to which he worked for JP Morgan in Geneva and New York focusing on Saudi Arabia and the Levant. This appointment is an important milestone for PWM. Not only does Samy have long experience of advising Saudi clients, but his range of contacts and extensive knowledge of Morgan Stanley will be a considerable asset to us in optimizing the considerable business opportunity we see in Saudi Arabia. In a related move, Samer El Haje Ibrahim has joined Morgan Stanley PWM as an investment advisor in the Dubai office. He will relocate to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia later this year, as part of the firm’s build up of its Saudi Arabian business. He will report to Mr Al Habal. Mr El Haje joins from American Express Bank in Dubai, where he was a director in the private banking team focusing on asset management for ultra high net worth clients in Saudi Arabia and other GCC markets. Prior to that, he was regional manager for American Express in Jeddah and before joining the banking industry he was acting director of sales and marketing for the Jeddah Hilton.