The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private-sector development in less developed countries. The IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States.
Investcorp is a global manager of alternative investment products, for private and institutional clients. Founded in Bahrain in 1982, the firm has offices in United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, India, China, Japan and Singapore. Investcorp’s principal client base is in the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, but it also has a growing base of institutional clients in North America, Europe, and Asia.
BlackRock, Inc. is an American multinational investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as an enterprise risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with US$9.42 trillion in assets under management as of June 30, 2023. BlackRock operates globally with 70 offices in 30 countries, and clients in 100 countries. BlackRock is the manager of the iShares group of exchange-traded funds, and along with The Vanguard Group and State Street, it is considered to be one of the Big Three index fund managers. Its Aladdin software keeps track of investment portfolios for many major financial institutions and its BlackRock Solutions division provides financial risk management services. BlackRock is ranked 184th on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue.
Bridgewater Associates, LP is an American investment management firm founded by Ray Dalio in 1975. The firm serves institutional clients including pension funds, endowments, foundations, foreign governments, and central banks. As of 2022, Bridgewater has posted the second highest gains of any hedge fund since its inception in 1975.
Citadel LLC is an American multinational hedge fund and financial services company. Founded in 1990 by Ken Griffin, it has more than $62 billion in assets under management as of December 2022. The company has over 2,600 employees, with corporate headquarters in Miami, Florida, and offices throughout North America, Asia, and Europe. Founder, CEO and Co-CIO Griffin owns approximately 85% of the firm. As of December 2022, Citadel is the most successful hedge fund of all time, posting $65.9 billion in net gains since inception in 1990.
Global macro is an investment strategy that leverages macroeconomic and geopolitical data to analyze and predict moves in financial markets. Large-scale or "macro" political and economic events can disproportionately impact certain sectors, such as the energy, commodity, and currency markets, over others. The strategy typically employs forecasts and analysis of interest rate trends, international trade and payments, political changes, government policies, international relations, and other broad systemic factors.
Peter M. Halloran is the founder and CEO of Pharos Financial Group, an investment firm active in global markets since 1997. The firm was established with initial investment capital from Credit Suisse and Soros Fund Management. In 2014, Pharos added a Dallas-based investment arm, Titanium Exploration Partners LLC, to invest into U.S. Oil & Gas opportunities. Altogether, Halloran has brought over $10 billion to the markets in which he invests. He was awarded Hedge Fund Manager of the Year in 2010 by Hedge Fund World, and his Pharos Gas Investment Fund and Pharos Russia Fund have been both ranked among top-15 global performers by Bloomberg. He has never gated an investment, suspended an NAV or re-set a high water mark. In 2011, Halloran established the physical oil trading firm, Pharos Energy Ltd., which was then sold in 2014. In 2000, Halloran acquired a stake in Aton Capital Group and subsequently transformed it into a top emerging markets investment bank that was later sold to UniCredit Bank for $424 million.
A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including leveraged buyout, venture capital, and growth capital. Often described as a financial sponsor, each firm will raise funds that will be invested in accordance with one or more specific investment strategies.
Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American private equity firm. It provides investment management and invests in credit, private equity, and real assets. As of 2022, the company had $548 billion of assets under management, including $392 billion invested in credit, including mezzanine capital, hedge funds, non-performing loans, and collateralized loan obligations, $99 billion invested in private equity, and $46.2 billion invested in real assets, which includes real estate and infrastructure. The company invests money on behalf of pension funds, financial endowments, and sovereign wealth funds, as well as other institutional and individual investors. Funds managed by Apollo have produced a 24% internal rate of return (IRR) to investors, net of fees.
Brevan Howard is a European hedge fund management company based in Jersey with its funds domiciled in the Cayman Islands. Brevan Howard was founded in 2002 by Alan Howard, alongside four other co-founders including Chris Rokos, and is widely considered to be one of the top global macro hedge funds.
Appaloosa Management is an American hedge fund founded in 1993 by David Tepper and Jack Walton specializing in distressed debt. Appaloosa Management invests in public equity and fixed income markets around the world.
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. He also serves as the chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs and the chairman of the Council of Political and Security Affairs. He is considered the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, being deemed as such even before his appointment as prime minister in 2022. He served as minister of defense from 2015 to 2022. He is the seventh son of King Salman. In 2023, he was ranked by Forbes as the eighth most powerful person in the world, with a personal wealth of at least $25 billion.
Gramercy Funds Management is an investment manager dedicated to emerging markets.
Richard Andrew Deitz is an American investment manager. He is the founder and president of London-based investment firm VR Capital Group.
The Public Investment Fund is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. It is among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world with total estimated assets of US$776 billion. It was created in 1971 for the purpose of investing funds on behalf of the Government of Saudi Arabia. The wealth fund is controlled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler since 2015.
GoldenTree Asset Management is an American asset management firm that was founded in 2000. The firm has its headquarters in New York City and offices in Charlotte, North Carolina, Dublin, London, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, and West Palm Beach.
Economic turmoil associated with the COVID-19 pandemic has had wide-ranging and severe impacts upon financial markets, including stock, bond, and commodity markets. Major events included a described Russia–Saudi Arabia oil price war, which after failing to reach an OPEC+ agreement resulted in a collapse of crude oil prices and a stock market crash in March 2020. The effects upon markets are part of the COVID-19 recession and are among the many economic impacts of the pandemic.
Martin Taylor is a British investor and hedge fund manager. He has run several billion dollar funds, focusing on emerging markets. He is also a significant political donor to the Labour Party.
BFAM Partners (BFAM) is a hedge fund management firm based in Hong Kong. The firm focuses on investments in China and is known for investing in high-yield property debt as well as distressed securities.
