SimCorp, an investment management solutions provider based in Copenhagen, Denmark, has appointed Mourad Essofi as managing director, head of Middle East and Africa (MEA).
He will be responsible for maintaining the fintech firm’s growth momentum in the region.
Through its offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), SimCorp has experienced significant growth in recent years. This includes new partnerships with significant buyside institutions such as Hassana Investment Company and a major sovereign wealth fund.
Essofi joined SimCorp following its merger with risk management solutions provider Axioma in January 2014, as head of Axioma sales for EMEA, focusing on the suite of analytics tools for portfolio construction and risk management. Prior to joining SimCorp, he spent nine years in various leadership roles at Axioma. Before that, he worked at Finastra and CDG Capital.
SimCorp sees tremendous opportunities in the Middle East. According to a recent Boston Consulting Group report, assets under management in the region surged by 13% from US$2 trillion in 2022 to US$2.3 trillion in 2023.
The region is vast and diverse, with significant differences between countries and their regulations. For example, Saudi Arabia is undergoing a transformation, particularly through its Vision 2030 initiative, to diversify its economy. The UAE is advancing its technological approach, rapidly adopting public cloud solutions.
“The MEA region is home to some of the world’s largest and most sophisticated investors, who are currently diversifying their investment portfolios across asset classes and geographies,” says Essofi.
“With our integrated platform SimCorp One, which supports the full investment lifecycle for both public and private asset classes within a single system to provide a real-time view of the total portfolio, we are well-positioned for continued success in the region.”
