MA Financial hires Middle East expert

The Australian-listed MA Financial has appointed a head of real estate partnerships in its asset management business to hunt for opportunities in the Middle East.

In this new role, Anthony Habis' remit would be to further build on the firm's global institutional investor relationships in the real estate sector and broker deals in that region.

Habis - who will work alongside MA's Sydney-based head of institutional capital Mike Pyke - joins MA Financial from Bank of New York Mellon, where he was global head of client coverage for asset servicing, with oversight of the firm's client franchise across all investor segments.

Before that, he was BNY Mellon's Head of Middle East & Africa, where he led the firm's growth agenda across several markets and businesses.

Habis also did a stint with Citi's institutional client group and held several senior roles in the Middle East and Africa including head of the global family office for the Middle East and North Africa and head of private banking in Saudi Arabia & the UAE.

MA Asset Management chief Andrew Martin noted a growing appetite in the Middle East for alternative assets and private market investments in Australia.

Martin acknowledged the recruit's experience in the region: "His combined experience across the Middle East, Africa, Europe and North America will strengthen our capability and help accelerate our growth plans and ambitions in those markets."

Asset management is MA Financial's fastest growing unit.

Its real estate, hotels, credit, equities and private equity/venture capital strategies had $7.8 billion in assets under management at the end of the 2022 financial year, more than double from four years ago.