Pakistan’s TPL Picks Alkhawaja to Oversee Abu Dhabi Expansion

  • Racha Alkhawaja appointed CEO of TPL Investment Management
  • UAE is becoming more appealing to global firms, investors

ByFarah Elbahrawy
16 June 2022, 00:00 GMT+5

A unit of Pakistan’s TPL Corp. has hired Racha Alkhawaja to oversee their expansion into the United Arab Emirates, as more hedge funds look to attract Middle East money.

The banker has been appointed chief executive officer of TPL Investment Management — a fund manager specializing in environmental, social and governance-focused and sustainable development goals-linked funds in emerging and frontier markets. It’s registered in the financial center known as the Abu Dhabi Global Market.

TPL’s first fund is a development impact one which develops sustainable and green buildings in Pakistan. The fund raised $100 million in its first round of investment.

“The fund is the first and only development impact fund in Pakistan,” Alkhawaja said in written responses to questions from Bloomberg. It enables “international investors to tap into the Pakistani real estate market via a vehicle that has all the components of international market practice in terms of governance and oversight,” she said.

The UAE is becoming more appealing to global firms given its geographic location and well-developed infrastructure. Veteran emerging markets investor Mark Mobius moved his base permanently to Dubai from Singapore after the Asian nation put in strict travel restrictions during the pandemic.

“TPL chose to expand to the UAE, as it has excelled as a financial center, servicing both east and west,” Alkhawaja said.

For Reference:-
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-15/pakistan-s-tpl-hires-state-street-alumn-for-abu-dhabi-expansion