Role Overview:
The Senior Investment Associate is responsible for originating, structuring, executing and placing transactions under the firm's Arranging Deals in Investments permission, in line with FSRA (Financial Services Regulatory Authority) requirements. The Senior Investment Associate manages mandates end to end, from screening and due diligence through to placement with Professional Clients and closing. Mandates span project finance, private credit, private equity, structured products and digital securities, and may use a Collective Investment Fund managed by the firm where a fund vehicle is the appropriate structure.
Key Responsibility:
Origination & Deal Screening
- Originate and develop a pipeline of mandates with issuers, sponsors, developers, corporates and asset managers across the UAE, the wider GCC and selected growth markets.
- Screen opportunities for investor demand, structural feasibility, regulatory perimeter and reputational risk, and prepare screening memoranda for internal approval.
- Recommend the appropriate route to market, including private placement, club deal, notes programme, Digital Security or a fund vehicle managed by the firm.
Structuring, Analysis & Due Diligence
- Build and review financial models, including project finance, equity valuations, credit and cash-flow analysis, distribution waterfalls, returns and sensitivity analysis.
- Structure instrument terms, including seniority, security package, covenants, coupon or distribution policy, tenor, redemption and transfer restrictions, and prepare term sheets.
- Lead due diligence, including data-room review, management sessions and coordination of legal, technical, financial and tax advisers; maintain due diligence trackers and red-flag reports.
- For tokenised transactions, coordinate with issuance platforms, custodians and KYC/wallet providers to ensure the Digital Security accurately reflects the legal terms of the instrument.
Investor Placement & Distribution
- Prepare teasers, information memoranda, investor presentations and Q&A materials that are clear, fair and not misleading, in line with FSRA COBS requirements.
- Identify and engage Professional Clients, including family offices, sovereign-linked investors, banks, asset managers, insurers and development finance institutions; manage investor outreach, roadshows and data-room access.
- Manage indications of interest, book-building and allocations, and coordinate investor onboarding with Compliance.
Transaction Execution & Closing
- Manage transaction timetables and workstreams through signing and closing, including transaction and subscription documents, conditions precedent and settlement.
- Coordinate legal counsel, trustees, paying agents, custodians, fund administrators and auditors throughout execution.
- Support post-closing investor reporting where the firm retains an ongoing role.
Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Finance, Economics, Accounting, Engineering or a related quantitative field.
- Minimum 4 years of experience in investment banking, private credit, private equity or capital advisory, preferably within ADGM or DIFC-regulated firms or GCC-focused institutions.
- Demonstrated track record of closed transactions, with end-to-end involvement from origination through closing.
- Advanced financial modelling skills, including three-statement, project finance, credit and distribution waterfall models built from first principles.
