Zaid Al-Qaimi
Chief Investment Officer, Kimera Limited
As head of Kimera Limited since its launch, Zaid Al-Qaimi has been an integral part of this unique family office’s journey. He recently spoke to us about his emphasis on being nimble and efficient, maintaining a presence in a variety of markets, and operating with uncompromising diligence.
“Technology has helped us to implement a streamlined and efficient back-to-front system.”
Zaid Al-Qaimi
Tell us about your role at Kimera and what your key business priorities are
I set up the family office in January 2017. Over the last two and half years, I have continuously balanced building up the infrastructure with operating a global mandate across all major asset classes. The first and most important part of the required infrastructure was hiring a team; I was lucky to be able to recruit a small number of very talented individuals. Together, we have established an institutional standard setup that operates with one global custodian, an independent trustee and a number of legal and tax advisors. For our technology infrastructure, we took an early decision to implement the back-to-front Bloomberg solution, which supports everything we do, from investment research to execution to risk management.
My key priority today is to continue to optimize returns while maintaining a well-diversified portfolio. We need to maintain our edge of being nimble and efficient, cutting through the lengthy administrative processes typical of larger organizations without sacrificing the quality of our investment process. We have an internal emphasis on continuous improvement to ensure we maintain the high quality of our investment process even as we continue to expand our investment funnel.
What are some of the greatest challenges facing CIOs today?
It’s becoming harder to invest on long-term fundamentals when the macroeconomic and geo-political environments pose significant short- to medium-term risks.
I’ve been hearing that we are late in the current cycle these last four years and I know of many investors who positioned their portfolios accordingly and have significantly underperformed as a result. The correction that everyone has been expecting will inevitably come, but it’s challenging to predict when. Coupled with ongoing global trade negotiations and the rise of populism, we are possibly heading for a major crisis in the not-too-distant future.
Another key factor is the impact of technology on investments. It’s created a continuously changing landscape where we can’t screen any investment without factoring in the potential impact of technology on the company and its competitiveness. Furthermore, productivity gains arising from technology mean the challenges of a low-inflation environment cannot be ignored.
What’s unique about Kimera?
We’re a small but expanding investment team working out of Dubai, yet we have been able to maintain and grow our global network to generate a continuously healthy pipeline of opportunities across all asset classes. We’ve achieved this by spending half our time on the road to maintain an ongoing presence in many markets to originate and diligently monitor investments.
We internally manage our own equity and bond portfolios while conducting the required diligence to execute direct and fund investments into private equity and venture capital across multiple continents. Where we can add value, we take board seats, make commercial introductions, and introduce new investors where extra funding is required.
While we have an institutional setup and refuse to compromise on the quality of our diligence, we also remain nimble to capture opportunities that larger-scale institutions are slow to execute on, such as investing in uncrowded sectors or geographies that we regularly access through our network.
How do you form an investment view?
We invest based on long-term fundamentals whilst keeping an eye on the potential for significant short- to medium-term disruptions arising from macroeconomic or geopolitical events. While subscribing to the themes that the majority of investors correctly look to exploit, we remain agnostic so that a good opportunity does not fall between the cracks. We adopt a collaborative approach and open exchange of knowledge, which has resonated well with many managers and companies.
We also reference-check everything. On-site due diligence is an integral part of our process. We debate every opportunity intensively and make sure all opinions are discussed openly. We will only invest in areas that we understand and can reach deep conviction on. For example, we will invest in blockchain-related companies where the underlying technology solves a genuine problem, but will avoid cryptocurrencies where we have witnessed high volatility born of excessive speculation and where the use case typically does not appear to be sustainable.
What role will technology play in the future of asset management?
It’s hard to think of any industry not currently disrupted or challenged by technology. There’s a lot of potential for technological change in the asset management industry. For Kimera, we employ a fundamental, deep-conviction approach to investing and as such don’t employ quants or AI to help us reach our decisions. However, we do expect advanced technology to play an increasingly significant role in the investment process.
In other areas, technology has helped us to implement a streamlined and efficient back-to-front system. Through Bloomberg, we have real-time reporting of our NAV — including alternatives, can obtain the best prices for our equity and bond trades, and can monitor risk through the tools on the Terminal.
What investment principles do you live by?
It was important for me that all team members were aligned from day one. We all work across all major asset classes and are all rewarded on the same basis — the performance of the portfolio. This means there are no silos or politics, which has helped to create a team that works as a close unit.
It’s also crucial not to fall in love with an opportunity. At times we’ve had to pass on attractive deals to allocate money to more compelling transactions.
Additional Resource
Kimera Limited and Bloomberg
In December 2018, Kimera Limited selected Bloomberg’s Asset and Investment Manager (AIM) as its preferred order and execution management system (OEMS) for market analytics, position and risk management, trade execution, settlements and reconciliation.
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