Lehman Names Sovereign Wealth Unit Chief

Lehman Brothers created a new position as global head of sovereign wealth funds and named one of its top media and consumer sector investment bankers to the role, based in Dubai.

The appointment of Makram Azar makes Lehman the latest investment bank to launch a dedicated team covering sovereign wealth funds. Azar headed Lehman's media, consumer and retail investment banking businesses in Europe and the Middle East.

He will report to Jeremy Isaacs, chief executive officer for Europe, Middle East and Asia-Pacific, Steve Lessing, global head of senior relationship management and Jasjit Bhattal, chief executive officer for Asia-Pacific. Azar's dealings with sovereign wealth funds will embrace the full range of products, from private equity and asset management to investment banking.

Financial News reported that added that Emmanuel Hibou will take over Azar's former day-to-day responsibilities serving media, retail and consumer company clients. Michael MacKinnon and Magnus Scaddan will run the consumer investment banking team and Colin Welch will run retail, the paper said.

Last week, Morgan Stanley added three bankers to its sovereign wealth coverage team in Dubai, creating what it called the largest team of its kind in the region. Two were transferred from Morgan Stanley banking groups in New York and London, and the third was hired from UBS.