The Thirteenth WealthBriefing MENA Awards for Excellence 2026

Amritaanshu Agrawal brings extensive expertise in wealth management and financial services to his role as a judge for the WealthBriefing MENA Awards. With a distinguished career spanning over 20 years, he has held key leadership positions in ABN AMRO, Singapore – Falcon Private Wealth DIFC and most is a Board Member and CEO for NPB Middle East Limited, DIFC. Amritaanshu is known for his deep insights into wealth management strategies, market trends, and client-focused solutions. His commitment to excellence and innovation makes him a respected figure in the industry, contributing significantly to the standards of excellence recognized by the WealthBriefing MENA Awards.

Zeid Akkawi is a Partner and Global Head of Investment Management and Advisory, based in Dubai.

With two decades of industry experience, Zeid has established himself as an innovative and solution-driven advisor to single-family offices and entrepreneurs.

Having joined Azura at its inception, he leads the Investment Management and Advisory group delivering holistic investment solutions to key clients of the firm. Prior to Azura, he was the Head of Investment Partners for Key Clients emerging markets at Julius Baer providing advisory solutions for strategic clients of the firm.

Throughout his career, he has advised and managed investment portfolios and advised on private placement and M&A transactions. He started his career in wealth management at Morgan Stanley, before moving to Credit Suisse, where he covered international family offices focusing on the construction of asset allocation and management of investment portfolios across asset classes.

Zeid graduated from University College London, UCL with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.

Laurence is the Regional Director, Client Solutions, EMEA for Fidentem Group in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He joined Asiaciti Trust in late 2012 and has over 35 years’ experience in the offshore finance industry. Based in the Middle East for the past 28 years he has particular skills and experience in cross border planning, the establishment of offshore trusts, foundations and company formation. Laurence also acts as a Non-executive Director for GSB Capital Ltd in the Dubai International Financial Centre. Before joining Fidentem Group he held a number of senior positions within the Trust & Fiduciary industry and more recently was Head of Fiduciary Services, MENAP for a major international financial institution in the Dubai International Financial Centre. In these roles he successfully serviced clients in the EMEA region with their international needs and works closely with other cross border specialists in the establishment of international trusts and a variety of investment structures. Laurence maintains a comprehensive knowledge of legislative changes and industry trends affecting cross-border issues. He is a full member of STEP Worldwide (Society of Trust and Estate Planners) and was the founding Chairman of STEP Arabia.

As Head of Client Value Management for Private Banking at Mashreq, Navin is leading Client value proposition, EAM Coverage desk, Intermediaries Desk, International Expansion and Corridor business development, Acquisition Strategy, Business Planning, Sales Governance & Performance management.

One of the key responsibilities is to ensure our clients receive the best value proposition not only in this region but globally alongside continuously enabling frontline with adequate tools to deliver the best client experience.

Navin is an accomplished professional with 22 years of experience in Financial sector within GCC and India. He has held variety of roles in Branch Banking, Quality &  Training, Business Finance, Financial Control and Analytics across leading organizations such as ABN Amro Bank N.V, Bank Muscat, ICICI Bank, besides his 10 years in Mashreq.

He has been instrumental in leading projects for setting up strategic business streams for Client acquisition, EAM desk, international corridors, Tech & digital wealth Solutions, Six Sigma, agile workstreams, digitizing RM sales management tool, Change Management, BCP, Brand re-positioning and re-creating value proposition.

He holds finance degrees from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India & The Institute of Company Secretaries of India.

Patrick is currently an executive director at Banque Richelieu GCC after joining fromDeutsche Bank Wealth Management Dubai. His previous position was senior vice president at DBS Private Banking Dubai. Patrick aims to exploit his reputation as a trusted advisor with entrepreneurial families to help drive the bank’s growth in the ultra-high net worth NRI private client segments, principally in the ME and Africa. Patrick’s 20-plus years’ experience in the sector began at Allied Irish Banks where he rose through the ranks to head up its deposit-taking unit in Jersey. His subsequently moved to BNP Paribas, then Bank of Nova Scotia before joining ABN AMRO Jersey where he rose to become head of private banking and later its country head. He moved to Dubai to join Lombard Odier in 2012.

Samy Dwek is the Founder of the Family Office Doctor and White Knight Consulting. His most recent role was Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Private Bank in Florida.

Prior to this Samy created and headed J.P. Morgan Family Office Solutions, EMEA and was a member of the EMEA Management Committee for the J.P. Morgan Private Bank. Samy held other positions at J.P. Morgan including head of Emerging Europe, banker for the Turkey-Israel region. Samy concurrently worked for J.P. Morgan Asset Management covering institutional clients in Turkey and Israel until 2011. He joined J.P. Morgan Private Bank in 2000 as a senior portfolio manager for Italy.

Prior to J.P. Morgan, Samy worked at Republic National Bank of New York in Geneva, Switzerland and Milan, Italy. He held positions including head of fixed income and head of client trading and worked on the proprietary trading desk focusing on Italian fixed income, fixed income derivatives and foreign exchange.

Samy is actively involved in his local community, serving on numerous charitable boards including the Foundation Board of the Boca Raton Regional Hospital and the Miami - Dubai Chamber of Commerce. He also sits on investment committees for a few Single-Family Offices and serves as either trustee or protector. Samy is a graduate of the European Business School in London where he graduated with a BA (Hons) in European Business Administration in English, French and Italian. He is fluent in English, French and Italian and proficient in several other languages.

With over two decades of experience in private banking and multi-family offices, Suzanna Gobet is a seasoned wealth manager at Banque Eric Sturdza SA, a Swiss private bank renowned for bespoke wealth management solutions for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families.

Throughout his career, he has developed a holistic understanding of the UHNWI ecosystem, combining expertise in investment management, wealth structuring, and succession planning with a strong track record in client advisory and team leadership. Prior to joining Banque Eric Sturdza, he spent nearly 19 years in a Geneva-based multi-family office, where she led a team of 12 bankers and held senior positions including Co-Head of Wealth Management.

A graduate in Economics and Finance from Geneva University, and a full member of STEP, Suzanna Gobet  is recognized for his ability to design and implement tailored strategies that preserve and grow wealth across generations. She also holds a Certificate in Art History (Art Explora, validated by Sorbonne University, 2025), reflecting his personal interest in the arts and culture.

She is committed to excellence, innovation, and the highest standards of professionalism in serving clients and contributing to the wider wealth management community.

Fella Khelifi-Arnulphy has more than two decades of experience in working with UHNW individuals, family offices and institutional clients around the globe. She currently serves as Head of Advisory Solutions Middle-East & Monaco at EFG International, where she leads teams of advisors in Geneva, Zurich, Dubai and Monaco. She is also Global Chair of the EFG Women Network, fostering female talent within the firm.

Fella joined EFG in London in 2015 to establish and grow the investment advisory activities of EFG Private Bank. Prior to that, she spent several years at Citi Private Bank and at Union Bancaire Privée in portfolio management and advisory roles.

In 2025, Fella was named one of the “Top Recommended” UNHW Wealth Managers in the Spear’s 500 rankings for the third consecutive year. She holds a BA in Political Science from Richmond American University London and an MBA from AIU London.

Xavier Leroy is the Head of Investment Services for the Middle East & Africa market, based in Dubai and responsible for Wealth Structuring, Product Specialists & Portfolio Advisory. Since 2019, Xavier was leading a team of investment advisors in charge of advising HNWI & UHNWI on Equities, Bonds, Private Equity, Real Estate and Hedge Funds through cash investments, funds and structured products.

Xavier brings with him 20+ years of experience in financial industry of which 15+ years within the BNP Paribas Wealth Management Advisory team in Europe and in the Middle East. He holds an MBA in Finance from ESSCA and a Master’s degree in Finance from ESCP-EAP Business School.

Yann is the Managing Partner of M/HQ. He chiefly focuses on private wealth and immigration practice. He has vast experience advising successful individuals and entrepreneurial families with Middle Eastern exposure on implementing inter-generational wealth transfer strategies and structuring their operational assets and global wealth. He is regularly involved in the ongoing management of such structures – as a board member, council member, guardian or protector. Yann is recommended by all of Chambers & Partners Private wealth, Legal Week’s Private Client Global Elite and Who’s who legal private client. He was the Chair of STEP Arabia from 2015 to 2018

Yasmine is the Head of Family Office and Wealth Advisor for Dubai at the Bank of Singapore, working with global UHNW individuals and their advisors to protect and secure their wealth for future generations.

Prior to joining the Bank, Yasmine spent 13 years in Private Client Consulting with the Big 4, and headed a regional non-profit developed in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Partnerships, working to improve corporate accountability and
transparency across the Private Sector in the Gulf Region.

Yasmine is particularly passionate about the role of Family Governance as a tool for wealth planning, as well as the value in engaging the next generation in family legacy discussions.

Simi is a Managing Partner in the Private Wealth/Banking and Asset Management Group and manages Options Group’s Zurich office.

She has been in Zurich since 2002 and has been instrumental over the past decade in assisting the leadership of global financial institutions and corporations to forensically analyze executive leadership qualities, cultural attributes, and future potential in relation to talent strategy. She has successfully delivered hundreds of talent engagements and has partnered with some of the world’s most innovative companies to solve a multiplicity of complex talent and business challenges with assistance from the firm’s OGiQ unit. She has acted as a strategic advisor, providing key insights on all issues relating to executive assessment, on-boarding, inclusion, and diversity management. Simi also leads the global PWM practice with members across the Americas, EMEA, and Asia, overseeing the execution of full life cycle recruitment.

She partners closely with senior-level management and founders at client firms to enable the firm to be a "trend-setter," advising clients on all aspects of strategy including overall brand perception and market sentiment analysis. In addition to recruitment, Simi provides competitive intelligence management scans, management and cultural assessments, benchmarking and succession planning, market sentiment analysis, and compensation analytics and advisory.

Simi has led a process-driven, research-intensive methodology which truly differentiates Options Group from the competition. Currently, Simi covers senior mandates in Continental Europe, the Middle East, UK, India, and Latin America with a focus on private banking and asset management. She is keenly passionate about diversity hiring, ESG and digitization. She began her career with the Oberoi chain of hotels and helped the firm set up their corporate marketing system across India.

Simi attended St. Stephen’s College at Delhi University and graduated with an Honors degree in Economics. She also received a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing Management from the Chartered Institute of Marketing in London. She is fluent in English, Hindi, and Bengali and is conversation German and French.

Aslam joined Fairway from EFG Fund Services and prior to that, he was at the Jersey Financial Services Commission.

Aslam has wealth of knowledge of the offshore funds industry having been involved in the finance industry for over 15 years; he is an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and holds a diploma in Fund Administration. Aslam has a wide range of experience across financial services businesses, and his experience on the boards of various regulated entities and managed client entities puts him in good stead.

Prior to EFG, Aslam was a financial regulator within the funds supervision division of the Jersey Financial Services Commission before which he was responsible for a fund administration department at Dominion. Before moving into funds industry Aslam spent 7 years in audit with Deloitte and EY where he completed his training.

Bruce is a chartered accountant with over 37 years financial services experience, previously a partner in PwC, latterly as Global leader of their Wealth Management practice and the key driver of their bi-annual Wealth Management Report. Bruce is now CEO of Weatherill Consulting providing advice on client centricity and wider strategic matters to wealth managers. He is the author of The Value of Trust: the quest by Wealth Managers for Trusted Advisor status and a number of other thought leadership reports. Bruce is chairman of ClearView Financial Media and a non-executive of a number of companies including Fidelity Holdings UK, The Wisdom Council, ComPeer, JDX Consulting and Ten Group.

Rene completed her law degree at the University of Stellenbosch and is an Admitted Attorney of the High Court of South Africa. After completing her articles in Cape Town, she joined a multinational offshore trust company, gaining extensive experience in global estate planning and structuring for high net worth individuals, while obtaining her H-dip Tax through Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California. Rene was responsible for local and offshore products and solutions at FNB Fiduciary before joining Investec Wealth & Investment as a Tax and Fiduciary specialist in July 2017. Rene has been instrumental in building the Tax and Fiduciary offering for Investec during the last 7 years, and she was the first founding member of the team.

She was rated in the Chambers HNW 2019 and 2020 for professional advisors. Every year they carry out thousands of in-depth interviews with clients in order to assess the reputations and expertise of business lawyers worldwide. The qualities they look for (and which determine rankings) include technical legal ability, professional conduct, client service, commercial awareness/ astuteness, diligence, commitment, and other qualities most valued by the client.

Rene is now permanently living in the Dubai and heading up the Private Client Strategy for Investec Bank Limited (DIFC Branch).