Dr. John Sfakianakis

GRM 2023 Workshop: Industrial Policies in the Gulf and the Middle East

Senior Scholar, Pembroke College, University of Cambridge - Chief Economist, Gulf Research Center

Dr. John Sfakianakis is a Senior Scholar at Pembroke College, University of Cambridge, Chief Economist and Head of Research of the GRC, and Associate Fellow of Chatham House in London. He is a board member of the Cambridge Middle East and North Africa Forum at the University of Cambridge. He has more than twenty years of experience in senior positions in government, banking, and private family offices. He has advised public and private clients on investment strategy, macroeconomic outlook, and asset allocation strategies. He was formerly Middle East Director for Ashmore, a FTSE 100 asset manager, where he served as a member of the Investment Committee and a board member of the firm’s funds in Saudi Arabia, which are regulated by the Capital Market Authority. His other previous positions have included Chief Investment Strategist of MASIC, one of the oldest family offices in Saudi Arabia; Chief Economist of Credit Agricole C.I.B. for the Middle East; Chief Economist and Group General Manager of Banque Saudi Fransi; Group Chief Economist of Saudi British Bank; and Chief Regional Economist of Samba Financial Group. Among the public and private institutions he has advised in Europe, the US and the Gulf are BCG, McKinsey, PwC, EY, Berkley Research Group, Burohappold, and Deloitte Monitor. For the last sixteen years, he has lived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.