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./
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025, Thailand
UAE fixtures
May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final
Essentials
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Geneva from Dh2,845 return, including taxes. The flight takes 6 hours.
The package
Clinique La Prairie offers a variety of programmes. A six-night Master Detox costs from 14,900 Swiss francs (Dh57,655), including all food, accommodation and a set schedule of medical consultations and spa treatments.
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Sheer grandeur
The Owo building is 14 storeys high, seven of which are below ground, with the 30,000 square feet of amenities located subterranean, including a 16-seat private cinema, seven lounges, a gym, games room, treatment suites and bicycle storage.
A clear distinction between the residences and the Raffles hotel with the amenities operated separately.
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
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UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
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Cutting red tape on import and export of food
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The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
Zayed Sustainability Prize
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
The years Ramadan fell in May
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
Zayed Sustainability Prize
RESULTS
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
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In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
