Meet the Authors

Managing Director & Head of Market Insights and Strategy, FAB

Chavan Bhogaita currently works as Managing Director & Head of Market Insights at First Abu Dhabi Bank. Earlier, he worked with the Alternative Investments and Fixed Income teams within NBAD’s Global Markets Division. He joined NBAD in 2009, specialising in GCC credit markets (bonds and sukuk) across all sectors. He has circa 25 years of professional experience in banking and finance, of which 18 years have been in credit research and analysis - his previous roles include Head of Middle East Credit Research at HSBC (Dubai), Head of Credit Research at Commerzbank (London), and senior credit analyst at Bear Stearns (London), and 6 years prior to his time in financial markets were spent in the areas of corporate recovery & insolvency, auditing, and corporate finance in the UK.

Since he joined NBAD (now FAB), Chavan has focused on the GCC fixed income markets and as such he spends much of his time talking to institutional investors around the world providing them with his analysis, insights and views on this market and the entities/issuers within it. For instance, the Dubai Inc. debt story, Abu Dhabi and its GREs, Saudi Arabia, etc. are among his core areas of coverage. He has also been quoted in international and regional media (such as Reuters, Bloomberg, Financial Times, WSJ, etc.). He runs the Market Insights & Strategy team which provides analysis and views across asset classes.

Chavan is the overall project manager and MC for FAB’s flagship annual event, the Global Financial Markets Forum. Over the years at this gathering he has interviewed live on stage prominent individuals such as David Cameron, Nicholas Sarkozy, General Colin Powell, Tony Blair, Dr. Mohammed El Erian, and Dr. Larry Summers, among others.

Executive Director & Chief Strategist, Middle East & Africa

Glenn is a senior banking professional with over 30 years of Emerging Market FX trading, sales and research experience. He worked in several of the world’s key trading centres including; London, New York, Johannesburg and Bahrain for the Credit Agricole Group before joining the National Bank of Abu Dhabi in 2013. He holds diplomas in International Financial Management and Computer Programming as well as a certificate in Geopolitical Studies from the GIGS Institute in Switzerland. His primary focus areas within the Market Insights & Strategy team cover geopolitics, the oil market and the macro picture of certain countries in Africa.

Executive Director & Chief Economist

A veteran of the financial markets, with over 25yrs of market experience, Simon joined First Abu Dhabi Bank as its Macro Strategist in January 2018. Over his career, Simon has built up a wealth of multi-asset, global macro investment strategy knowledge, working in both London and New York. Simon worked previously for BNP Paribas, RBC and National Australia Bank in London, and for Bear Stearns in London and New York. Bi-lingual in French, his primary focus within the Market Insights & Strategy team at First Abu Dhabi Bank is on global macro issues and in particular how these are relevant to investment strategies within the MENA/GCC region.

Director and Fixed Income Analyst

Rakesh has 15 years of experience in fixed income and credit research and holds a master degree in Finance. He is associated with FAB Global Markets since 2011 and works across the team’s stated area of coverage with primary focus on GCC Fixed Income. Prior to this, he has worked with bulge bracket banking and consulting firms like KPMG’s advisory division and HSBC’s Global Banking & Markets division in India.