Damien Armand
Tell us about your role and your team.
I moved to Abu Dhabi from Luxembourg in late 2021 to join ADCB Asset Management which is located in Abu Dhabi Global Market and regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority. Our investment team aims to identify new investment opportunities and proactively help clients make investment decisions. Our investment advisory service is designed to bridge the gap between fully discretionary and self-directed investments by providing our clients greater control and oversight of their investment portfolio while benefiting from professional research and management.
How many fund houses do you work with and how many funds are on your product shelf? What new strategies have you selected this year?
As our business caters to both retail and professional clients, the range of funds and asset managers we use is significantly diversified according to the clients’ risk profiles and their appetite for bespoke trade ideas. We maintain an open-architecture approach to give clients more choices, lower fees and, hopefully, better returns.
What gaps are you looking to close in 2023? Are any of your products at risk of being removed, if so in which area?
Solving investor challenges will be key in 2023. From satellite to core, it will be hard to resist the attractiveness of alternative investments by considering a broader and/or new exposure to private equity, private debt, infrastructure, real estate and hedge funds. The market turmoil we are going through might lead us to consider traditional investment as peripheral.
What is your favourite quote?
‘The impossible exists only until we find a way to make it possible’ – Mike Horn, explorer and survival expert
What is your favourite dessert?
After one year in the UAE, I’d say kunafa is my favourite dessert. I enjoy travelling in the region and I still get different answers when I ask ‘where to taste the best kunafa?’ Please share your best addresses with me.
Who are you supporting at the World Cup?
‘Les Bleus’ without hesitation. I remember celebrating the team’s victories in 1998 and 2008 in France and I wish my national team would bring the World Cup back to the Champs-Élysées again.