One of the more memorable lines to come out of the global financial disaster in 2009 came from an American pundit: “Never let a serious crisis go to waste.”
Hamad Al Mutawaa has obviously taken that advice to heart. He was at the centre of Dubai’s very own crisis, as part of the management team of Dubai Holding’s property division.
At the time, there was a plan to merge that debt-laden business with the much healthier Emaar. In the course of negotiations, Mr Al Mutawaa was introduced to Chris Flinos, then an executive at the US investment bank Merrill Lynch, which was advising on the ultimately aborted deal.
“We’ve been friends ever since,” says Mr Al Mutawaa. Their friendship was the start of a business relationship that could add a new and distinct voice to the UAE banking scene.
CH Stirling was launched early last year, the title consisting of the men’s initials plus a brand name. “We wanted something that would stand the test of time, and that was majlis-friendly,” explains Mr Al Mutawaa.
He goes on: “Anybody who worked in investment banking during the crisis had dreams of starting their own firm. But to do so, you had first to answer the question: are the clients here because of me or because of the bank? What was missing was a connection to the local market.”
Mr Al Mutawaa is a member of one of the big merchant families of Abu Dhabi, and already had a client, another big local conglomerate that was in the midst of a quite complex restructuring. (He does not disclose the names of clients because so far they have all been private companies.) That meant the firm was funded – from client fees and personal capital investment – from the beginning.
“So we are fortunate in that we can be selective in our approach to transactions. We aren’t brokers or middlemen or walking around the DIFC trying to position ourselves. Our long-term plan is clear: we want to become the region’s leading locally based investment banking advisory firm. We have the clarity to be able to stick to our vision free from any interference. We don’t want to run funds, push products or need a financial sponsor, and this will help ensure we grow our brand equity while we grow our business,” he says.
That sounds like a pretty clear and unique strategy, yet there are already a number of much bigger and older banks operating in the region that offer advisory services, institutions such as Lazard, Rothschild and Moelis & Co. They, and a range of even more specialist advisers based in DIFC, are not going to let CH Stirling have its own way in this lucrative market.
“Our advantage is that we are locally based, and serve the local market from their perspective. In five years’ time, we want to challenge our competitors in our market. And we are clear on how to do that. Many international advisers in the region don’t dedicate the time to the Middle East. We understand it and care for it, ” says Mr Al Mutawaa. CH Stirling is registered in Abu Dhabi, Mr Mutawaa’s hometown, but with offices in Dubai Media City as well.
How does the strategy work in practice?
“For example, the client might come to us and say, ‘We want to IPO or do a fund.’ Our first response is generally: why do you want to do that?” says Mr Al Mutawaa.
“The clients really respect that. There is no conflict between your interests and ours, we do not have a balance sheet we’re trying to use, we are not lending to you and we are not selling you a product. If between Stirling and our clients we agree that an IPO is appropriate, we will be the adviser to the client, not the book runner. It ends the schism between investment banks and clients,” he says.
Where will the business come from? “Our first few clients have been pretty similar – Abu Dhabi based, family offices, medium to big in size. Until we came along, they’d been served by banks, who inevitably tell the clients they need to borrow more money, and relied on accountants for advice.”
He is sceptical about the rush to stock offerings by many of the older businesses in the Gulf: “Family businesses don’t have to go public to modernise. The family company has been a tried and tested model in the region. Family offices and Fortune 500 are not mutually exclusive. We understand that they have family interests and children to take care of. Many family businesses are huge, but their finance teams have been around 15 years or more. We want to help make them more appropriate for the modern era,” he says.
His background, and that of Mr Flinos, gives the firm expertise in property and the hotels and leisure industry – important parts of the UAE economy. They also have experience in other sectors, such as industrial, oil and gas and food security.
The aim now is to grow the business. They have added an analytics service, providing capital market intelligence to client executives, and also aim to increase the offering in investor relations advisory, a coming thing in UAE finance.
“In five years’ time, we want to be challenging competitors like Rothschild and Lazard, and we are clear how we’ll do that,” says Mr Mutawaa./
The%20specs%20
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
Company%20Profile
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The bio
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite travel destination: Maldives and south of France
Favourite pastime: Family and friends, meditation, discovering new cuisines
Favourite Movie: Joker (2019). I didn’t like it while I was watching it but then afterwards I loved it. I loved the psychology behind it.
Favourite Author: My father for sure
Favourite Artist: Damien Hurst
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
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Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
'Young girls thinking of big ideas'
Words come easy for aspiring writer Afra Al Muhairb. The business side of books, on the other hand, is entirely foreign to the 16-year-old Emirati. So, she followed her father’s advice and enroled in the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s summer entrepreneurship course at Abu Dhabi University hoping to pick up a few new skills.
“Most of us have this dream of opening a business,” said Afra, referring to her peers are “young girls thinking of big ideas.”
In the three-week class, pupils are challenged to come up with a business and develop an operational and marketing plan to support their idea. But, the learning goes far beyond sales and branding, said teacher Sonia Elhaj.
“It’s not only about starting up a business, it’s all the meta skills that goes with it -- building self confidence, communication,” said Ms Elhaj. “It’s a way to coach them and to harness ideas and to allow them to be creative. They are really hungry to do this and be heard. They are so happy to be actually doing something, to be engaged in creating something new, not only sitting and listening and getting new information and new knowledge. Now they are applying that knowledge.”
Afra’s team decided to focus their business idea on a restaurant modelled after the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Each level would have a different international cuisine and all the meat would be halal. The pupils thought of this after discussing a common problem they face when travelling abroad.
“Sometimes we find the struggle of finding halal food, so we just eat fish and cheese, so it’s hard for us to spend 20 days with fish and cheese,” said Afra. “So we made this tower so every person who comes – from Africa, from America – they will find the right food to eat.”
rpennington@thenational.ae
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group B
Barcelona v Tottenham Hotspur, midnight
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 630bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh810,000
Read more about the coronavirus
