The London arm of the Kuwait Investment Authority has appointed executives from Barclays plc and the Carlyle Group in recent months, as Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund looks to increase its investment in capital markets.
Sources told Bloomberg Agency that the Kuwait Investment Office had appointed Arne Hassell as chief investment officer in November, and Hassell previously worked as the head of the information department at Barclays and head of hedge fund strategies for Europe and Asia at Goldman Sachs Group, according to a local Arabic daily.
Bram Verster, a former principal at Carlyle, has been appointed as chief strategy officer, and Ian Edwards of Jupiter Asset Management has joined as the new chief technology officer.
The sources said the Kuwait Investment Office has been increasingly active in recent years in the capital markets with a focus on IPOs and pre-IPO opportunities. He is also an active investor in the real estate markets, supporting a major project in Boston.
The London office has about 100 employees, and the fund is looking to attract more employees.