Emirates NBD appoints Arjuna Mahendran Chief Investment Officer of Wealth Management Division

Emirates NBD, a leading bank in the region, announced today the appointment of Arjuna Mahendran as the new Chief Investment Officer of the Wealth Management Division. Mahendran has the mandate to significantly expand and deepen the bank’s knowledge base and product offering on its leading wealth management platform, across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and beyond. 

Pierre Pissaloux, General Manager – Wealth Management, Emirates NBD, said: "I am delighted to announce Arjuna Mahendran’s appointment. He brings with him nearly 30 years of extensive experience in the financial services industry across Asia, and I am confident that in his role as Chief Investment Officer, he will assist the Wealth Management division to continue to grow from strength to strength."

Mahendran joins Emirates NBD from HSBC Private Bank, where he held the position of Managing Director and Chief Investment Strategist - Asia and Singapore Head of Investment Group Discretionary Asset Management. In this position, he was responsible for providing in-depth analysis of markets in the Asia Pacific region and driving research within the organisation.

"It is an exciting time to be in the Middle East as regional markets experience significant growth, in comparison to their global counterparts, and this is further underlined by MSCI’s recent upgrade to Emerging Market status for UAE and Qatar,” said Mahendran. “I am delighted to join the Emirates NBD Wealth Management Division at such an opportune time, and look forward to working with the team to continue to build on the success of the Wealth Management Division.” 

Prior to joining HSBC Private Bank, Mahendran was Chief Economist-Strategist at Credit Suisse Private Bank and before this, he held the position of Chairman/Director General for the Board of Investments of Sri Lanka. For his instrumental work here, he was named runner-up in Euromoney Strategic Direct Investor’s ‘CEO Lifetime Achievement Award’ in 2003. 

An Oxford University graduate, Mahendran has also worked as Director and Head of Economic Research for ASEAN and South Asia at SG Securities, as well as holding senior positions with the Central Bank and Ministry of Finance in Sri Lanka and working on World Bank and IMF funded projects. 

Mahendran has been a regular commentator on CNBC, CNN and BBC TV channels, in addition to sharing his market insights with Bloomberg, The Financial Times, Asian Wall Street Journal and Forbes magazine.