One of HSBC’s longest-serving executives is stepping down from a full-time position at Europe’s largest lender to become a senior adviser to $50bn technology investor, General Atlantic.
Samir Assaf, who ran the investment bank for a decade, will retain a role counselling HSBC’s chair Mark Tucker and chief executive Noel Quinn. He will also continue to be non-executive chair of HSBC’s Middle Eastern subsidiaries.
Alongside an advisory role at General Atlantic, Assaf will join the board of a new climate change fund, BeyondNetZero, established by the US private equity firm. Run by Lord John Browne, the former BP chief executive, the fund aims to provide growth equity for new companies with technology that can help reduce carbon emissions.
HSBC and General Atlantic both confirmed the appointments. General Atlantic described Assaf’s role as “sourcing, developing relationships with entrepreneurs around the world and portfolio company support”.
Assaf, 61, became one of Europe and Asia’s best-known investment bankers over an unusually long 10-year tenure in charge of the division during the turbulent post-financial crisis years.
Born in Lebanon and educated mostly in France, he outlasted almost all his peers in his 21-year career at HSBC, working for five different chief executives after joining as European head of fixed income trading in 2000, when HSBC acquired Crédit Commercial de France.
In late 2019, Assaf stepped aside as head of the investment bank shortly after a dramatic shake-up at the lender, which saw chief executive John Flint leave after just 18 months in the job. Assaf took a lower-profile position as chair of corporate and institutional banking.
In his later years, the business he ran faced criticism for its bureaucratic and conservative culture, which some alleged caused it to fall behind more aggressive rivals and lose market share, particularly in the M&A business. However, its more cautious approach meant that - unlike some competitors - it had few sizeable credit losses.
Assaf was recruited by Gabriel Caillaux, co-president and head of General Atlantic’s business in Emea.
The group has made numerous successful technology bets since being founded by Chuck Feeney in 1980. It was the first major US investor in China’s Alibaba, turning a $75m investment in 2009 into more than $1bn when the firm listed five years later. In Europe, it was an early backer of Adyen, a Dutch payments start-up that now has a €74bn valuation.
However, General Atlantic’s record in tech investment has been tarnished by its association with the collapsed supply chain finance company Greensill Capital. Its implosion forced the closure of $10bn of supply chain finance funds at Credit Suisse, which may ultimately cause investors as much as $2.3bn in losses.
The US private equity group has since moved to end its relationship with the scandal-ridden start-up by repaying a €300m loan that it took out in 2019 from Greensill, in which it also owned a stake and had a board seat.
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October 04, 2021 at 06:02AM
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Former HSBC investment chief to join General Atlantic - Financial Times
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