Experience that spans cycles, markets and the capital structure

Gus Chehayeb is a Founding Partner and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Sancta Capital Advisors Limited. Gus leads our firm's investment committee and investment management activities.

Gus has over fifteen years' experience investing in the MENA region and more than twenty-five years' experience in investment management.

Gus was previously the head of corporate research for the Middle East and Africa at Exotix Partners LLP, a frontier market investment banking boutique. At Exotix, Gus advised hedge funds, proprietary trading desks and institutional investors on regional distressed and value investing opportunities across the capital structure, including conventional and Islamic high-yield bonds, bank debt and equities.

Before joining Exotix, Gus was a senior portfolio manager at SHUAA Capital where he designed the firm's value-oriented investment strategy and led its MENA research initiative. Prior to SHUAA, he was a research associate at Vaughan Nelson Investment Management in Houston and was a key member of a 7-person team managing US$5bn across value-focused equity portfolios. Gus began his career as an analyst with Goldman Sachs' Investment Management Division in Chicago.

Gus is a CFA charterholder and graduated first in his class from the University of Texas at Austin with a BBA from the Business Honors Program.

Ahmad Alanani is a Founding Partner and Senior Executive Officer (SEO) of Sancta Capital Advisors Limited. Ahmad is responsible for the day-to-day management of the firm, deal origination, due diligence and execution. Ahmad also takes a leadership role in the portfolio construction and asset allocation.

Ahmad has over sixteen years' experience investing in the MENA region and more than twenty-five years' experience in investment management.

Ahmad was previously a Managing Partner at Exotix Partners LLP, a frontier market investment banking boutique, and served as the firm's Senior Executive Officer in Dubai. He joined Exotix in 2008 as a director in the fixed income sales and trading team in London, before relocating to Dubai in 2010 to establish the firm's regional office and expand its franchise. In Dubai, he led a team of 10 professionals focused on distressed debt and special situations and successfully executed more than US$2.0bn of secondary and primary transactions across the region.

Prior to Exotix, Ahmad was a director for a family office in London where he was tasked with liability management and term securitisation within targeted portfolio companies. Ahmad also worked for MD Sass Investor Services, a New York-based hedge fund with over US$7bn under management, as part of the distressed and leveraged buyouts strategy.

Ahmad is a CFA charterholder. He holds an MSc in Financial Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology and a BSc in Mathematics from the University of British Columbia.

Karim Jetha is a Senior Managing Director of Sancta Capital Advisors Limited. Karim plays a leadership role in portfolio construction and asset allocation.

Karim has over seventeen years' experience investing in the MENA region and more than twenty years' experience in investment banking and investment management.

Karim was previously a Portfolio Manager at BlueCrest Capital Management in Dubai, a leading global alternative asset manager. At BlueCrest, he led global equities investment for a top-performing global macro portfolio with $1.4bn AUM.

Prior to this, Karim was the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Longdean Capital. Karim conceived, built and led a boutique investment firm focused on listed equities in the MENA region. Before Longdean Capital, Karim was a Partner and Portfolio Manager at Blakeney LLP, one of the pioneers of portfolio investment in MENA. At Blakeney, Karim was head of MENA coverage and had responsibility for the firm's $600m MENA portfolio. Karim began his career at Goldman Sachs as an Associate in their Investment Banking Division in London.

Karim holds an MA degree from the University of Cambridge where he read Economics.

Raja Natarajan is an Investment Director at Sancta Capital Advisors Limited.

Raja has eighteen years of experience spanning research, investment management and software programming. He was previously a Vice President at Goldman Sachs Asset Management and, earlier in his career, a programmer at Cognizant Technology Solutions.

Raja is a CFA charterholder. He holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow and a Bachelor's degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Anna University.

Rami Qumri is a Senior Analyst at Sancta Capital Advisors Limited.

Rami has eight years of experience in financial-markets research. He was previously a Treasury Analyst at Arab Bank in Jordan and, before moving into finance, an engineer in the Civil Aerospace division of Rolls-Royce PLC in the United Kingdom.

Rami is a CFA charterholder. Rami holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering with honours from the University of Manchester.

Mahmoud Al-Khawaja is a Non-Executive Director of Sancta Capital Advisors Limited.

Mahmoud is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Capintro Partners, a leading advisory and placement firm based in the United Kingdom with an office in the United Arab Emirates. He also serves as an Investment Committee member and advisor to a large regional conglomerate.

Previously, Mahmoud was Chief Representative for the Middle East at Asset Alliance Corporation and held various executive roles with Lehman Brothers in New York. He has over 27 years of experience in the financial services and investment industry.

Mahmoud holds a BSc and MSc in Finance and Economics from Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts and is a CAIA charterholder.

Taimoor Labib is a Non-Executive Director of Sancta Capital Advisors Limited.

Taimoor has approximately 30 years of experience in direct private equity and investment banking. He is a Founding Partner and Head of MENA and Chairman of Africa Private Equity at Affirma Capital, and was previously Head of Middle East and Africa Private Equity at Standard Chartered Private Equity.

Earlier in his career he held various roles with Bear Stearns, The Carlyle Group, EFG Hermes and Jadwa Investment.

Taimoor holds a BSc from Carnegie Mellon University.

Sebastiaan Welling is a Non-Executive Director of Sancta Capital Advisors Limited.

Sebastiaan brings extensive experience across corporate and international banking. He was previously Head of Transformation and Business Management at Commercial Bank of Dubai and Regional Head of MENA, Corporate Banking at ABN AMRO Bank. Earlier, he served as Vice-Chairman of the Managing Board of ABN AMRO Bank (Luxembourg) and as Chairman of the Board of Directors of ABN AMRO Holding S.A.

Sebastiaan holds a Master of Business Law from the University of Leiden.