rudolph waels

Adjunct Professor at PARIS SORBONNE UNIVERSITY

Bio Summary

Rudolph Waels has worked in Europe and various Emerging Markets since 1996. He started his career with Arthur Andersen/Ernst & Young, where he carried out multiple audits, consulting, restructuring, privatization, and development projects across Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia. Starting in 2004, he focused on private equity and direct investments in the Middle East and North Africa. He worked at Swicorp (Vice President), First Gulf Bank (Head of Private Equity), Aabar (Director of Investments), ICD (Head of Direct Investments & Financing, CEO Advisor), Armalia Partners (Managing Partner), Triago (Senior Advisor), and Mercer (Senior Advisor). Rudolph also teaches at the Master Banking and Finance of Paris Sorbonne Abu Dhabi. Rudolph holds an MBA from the Wharton School (Double major in Finance and Marketing). He is a graduate of Paris Dauphine University (MS in Information Systems Management, BBA in Finance). He passed the CPA (Certified Public Accountant) and the CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor) exams, as well as level 1 and 2 of the CFA (Certified Financial Analyst). He studied in Europe (France, United Kingdom, Spain), Latin America (Argentina, Mexico), Asia (Singapore) and the United States. He speaks English, French, Spanish fluently and is learning Arabic. Rudolph is currently based in Abu Dhabi and fully mobile.

Employment History

Senior Advisor

Mercer

June 2018 - present

Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Mercer Investments is the largest investment consultancy firm globally (USD15 trillion in Assets under Advice, USD321 billion of Assets under Delegated Management, and 3,800 staff across 44 countries). Mercer serves investors ...see more

CEO

Armalia Partners

January 2016 - present

Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates

Armalia Partners is a boutique advisory firm focused on fast-growing markets. Armalia operates either directly or as a subcontractor to larger firms. Clients include, for instance, Mercer (an investment and HR consulting firm), and Oliver Wyman (a strategy consulting firm) Business Development (For Mercer or Oliver Wyman) • Sourced and brought USD 750 m of assets to Mercer for its asset management business. • Sourced a consulting project for Oliver Wyman to advise a government-owned stock exchange to develop its market data revenues. Management Consulting / Investment Management (For Mercer or Oliver Wyman) • Advised a Public Pension Fund to build the right organization to super its investment strategy and asset growth (From $16 to 32 billion of assets) including restructuring its investments department, defining a new target organization, defining new job descriptions, setting up a new operating model, benchmarking existing compensation benchmarking, defining a target salary structure, structuring a long-term incentive scheme, and defining an implementation roadmap. • Defining Governance Framework, Target Organization, Job descriptions, Investment Policy Statement, Strategic Asset Allocation, as well as Investment and Monitoring Procedures for an asset manager. • Defining investment processes for a large Asset Manager looking to develop joint ventures in Saudi Arabia with international or local partners. • Selection of board members, and definition of a governance model for a tech company • Training an investment team on business valuations and financial modelling for a large Sovereign Wealth Fund. Family Office/Restructuring/Management (for Saudi Investors) • Setting up a direct investment/family office (prepared investment strategy, business plan, budgets, etc.) • Sourced and reviewed 200 deals between $1m and $50m in IT, Healthcare, Education, Business Services, and Consumer/Retail sectors. • Prepared valuation and transaction documentation for a $10 m investment • Portfolio company monitoring (financial statements analysis, cashflow forecasts, CFO recruitment, etc.) for a K12 school and nursery.

Adjunct Professor

PARIS SORBONNE UNIVERSITY

August 2014 - present

Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates

• Teaching a class on the Middle East at the Master of Banking and Finance (Dubai Financial Crisis, Development Strategies of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Foreign Direct Investments in the Middle East, Dealing with Ethical cha ...see more

Head of Direct Investments and Financing

Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector

August 2014 - February 2016

ICD (Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector) is the private sector-focused subsidiary of the Islamic Development Bank, a multilateral development bank. CEO Advisor (October 2015 - February) • Revi ...see more

CEO

Armalia Partners

August 2010 - June 2014

Armalia Partners is an advisory firm focused on fast-growing markets. Armalia operates either directly or as a subcontractor to larger firms. Growth Equity/Private Equity • Structured joint venture with a large European i ...see more

Head of Private Equity

First Gulf Bank

May 2008 - August 2009

Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates

FAB is the largest bank in the Arab World. Hired to restructure an existing investment portfolio and build a new investment business. FGB halted its growth plan because of the financial crisis. Private Equity - Set up $500 ...see more

Investment Director

Swi

October 2004 - May 2008

Tunis, Tunisia

Swicorp is a financial advisory and growth equity/impact-investing firm, headquartered in Saudi Arabia, focused on the MENA region. Growth Equity/Private Equity • Managed investment process: Market analysis, transaction ...see more

Manager

EY

October 1996 - April 2004

Paris, France

With Arthur Andersen/Ernst & Young, I had very diverse experiences from Consulting to Audit and Due Diligences. I spent 50% of my work in emerging markets, in the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Sahara Africa, Eastern Europe, ...see more

Education

MBA

Wharton School

2003

MS

Paris Dauphine University

1996

Language Skills

English

Strategic Planning,

Performance Management,

Corporate Venture Capital,

Commercial Due Diligence,

Target Search,

Transformation Management Office

Law, Regulation, and Compliance

Corporate Governance

Industry Experience

Automotive

Social Sector

Foundations and Philanthropy,

Multilateral Organizations