Abou El Nasr will work in Dubai, while Bakr and Mortada will be based in the firm’s London office. The three men will focus on Merrill Lynch Wealth Management’s Gulf Corporation Council countries, Egypt and Levant region offshore business.
Abou El Nasr reports to Ahmed Barakat, the firm’s United Arab Emirates market manager. He has 28 years of experience in the financial sector, and before joining Merrill Lynch Wealth Management was the chief operations officer at Prime Asset Finance in London.
Bakr and Mortada report to Adam Horowitz, the head of UK and Ireland at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, and to Tamer Rashad, the head of Middle East.
Mortada was previously a private banker at Standard Chartered Private Bank, where he focused on the Levant market. Bakr joins the firm from MHBI Consultants, where he was the founder and chief executive officer, servicing ultra-high net worth individuals.
According to Rashad, the appointments reflect the firm’s ongoing commitment to the region. Merrill Lynch Wealth Management established an office in Beirut 49 years ago, and its Middle East team additionally operates in Bahrain, Dubai, Geneva, London, Monte Carlo and Riyadh.
