Omar Syed
Chief Investment Officer - Direct Investments
Omar Syed joined Abu Shoosha Financial Services K.S.C in February 2021 as Chief Investment Officer – Strategic Investments. Prior to Abu Shoosha Financial Services K.S.C, Omar was Senior Vice President at DICO Group, focused on the family office’s private equity investments.
He has also previously raised, deployed and managed the Abraaj Turkey Fund since its inception in 2015. Omar brings over 20 years of experience in the field of private equity and investment management with a proven track record of origination, execution, and portfolio management of companies across diverse sectors in the US, Europe, MENA, Turkey, and South Asia as well as the restructuring and turnaround of a number of portfolio companies.
During the span of his career, he has worked closely at management and board levels across multiple organisations and portfolio companies, holding positions at Abraaj Capital, American Capital and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
He currently serves on the boards of McLaren Group and Gulf Cryo. In addition to being a CA and CFA charter holder, Omar holds a Masters degree in Accounting from Concordia University and a Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Management from McGill University, Canada.