Our Team

Stela assumed her current CEO role in 2020 after a career of over 16 years in the financial markets. Prior to her current position, she held multiple senior leadership roles for National Bank of Abu Dhabi, now First Abu Dhabi Bank, and acted as Chief Operating Officer for boutique wealth managers in Dubai. She started her career with Citigroup in 2002 in Milan, Italy, where she spent more than 10 years in the Global Transaction Services and Chief of Staff departments in various operational and managerial positions. Stela holds a Bachelor Degree of Foreign Languages and Cultural Studies from the University of Milan, Italy.

A value investor at heart, Tommaso has been managing institutional, family and individual wealth over a 16-year career. From a beginning in investment banking with UniCredit Group in Milan and Merrill Lynch and UBS Investment Bank in London, where he originated institutional equity and debt issuances and authored research papers on macroeconomics, he then moved on to wealth management in Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore with both boutique and large operators. Tommaso established himself as a portfolio manager for large family offices in East Asia, running concentrated, high conviction portfolios. He obtained his MBA from Hong Kong UST during which he focused on Value Investing at London Business School, and his Master of Science and Bachelor of Arts from Bocconi University, Italy.

Duncan has spent 25 in the financial industry across the UK, Middle East and Africa covering Compliance and project management in the wider global banking and private equity organizations. Duncan began his career with BMW Finance in South Africa and then took up a role in the UK with Standard Chartered with the African Regional Office. He then joined the WestLB Debt & Bond syndication team before taking on the deputy Head of Compliance at Gatehouse Private Bank. Duncan then moved to the Middle East to join Qatar First Bank as the Deputy Head of Compliance where he completed his ACAMS certification and after 5 years moved to Standard Chartered DIFC to cover the Head of Regional Compliance for Global and Commercial Banking. Duncan then took up an opportunity as a consultant with Jawan Partners specializing in all regulatory and compliance related functions interacting directly with the DFSA. Duncan had a brief stint at Bank of Singapore covering regulatory remediation before happily joining the Index & Cie team as the Head of Compliance. Duncan is an AML/Compliance specialist covering a wide product knowledge across conventional and Islamic including investment, corporate, private banking, proprietary investments, M&A and Trade Finance. He has a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and Economics from the University of South Africa.

Nick is a well-round financial professional, with a 13-year long experience spanning over wealth management and private equity. Nick started his career as a wealth manager in Johannesburg, South Africa. He quickly established efficient networks and enhanced his skills, both on the African continent and globally. He then transitioned into wealth management in South Africa, after which he moved to the UAE in order to expand his global networks and amplify his global skillset. He has a concrete knowledge of global markets, with a firm understanding of the African continent and MENA region. Nick holds BCom in Finance from the University of Johannesburg as well as a post-graduate diploma in financial planning law from the University of the Free State. Nick prides himself on the relationships he builds with his client and strives to be the “go-to guy” for all his client’s wealth management requirements.

Duncan has spent 25 in the financial industry across the UK, Middle East and Africa covering Compliance and project management in the wider global banking and private equity organizations. Duncan began his career with BMW Finance in South Africa and then took up a role in the UK with Standard Chartered with the African Regional Office. He then joined the WestLB Debt & Bond syndication team before taking on the deputy Head of Compliance at Gatehouse Private Bank. Duncan then moved to the Middle East to join Qatar First Bank as the Deputy Head of Compliance where he completed his ACAMS certification and after 5 years moved to Standard Chartered DIFC to cover the Head of Regional Compliance for Global and Commercial Banking. Duncan then took up an opportunity as a consultant with Jawan Partners specializing in all regulatory and compliance related functions interacting directly with the DFSA. Duncan had a brief stint at Bank of Singapore covering regulatory remediation before happily joining the Index & Cie team as the Head of Compliance. Duncan is an AML/Compliance specialist covering a wide product knowledge across conventional and Islamic including investment, corporate, private banking, proprietary investments, M&A and Trade Finance. He has a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and Economics from the University of South Africa.

Sahana has been handling settlement and operational tasks for 13 years. She held leadership positions in HSBC, United Arab Bank and most recently RAK Bank. Sahana has been handling high risk regional and overseas settlements, confirmations and reconciliations, while fully understanding criticalities of settlement risk factors. She comes from India and has obtained her bachelor’s degree in commerce from JNVU University in Rajasthan, INDIA.