At the Dubai Private Capital Summit, held by CapLink Group at The Lana, Dubai, on 15 September 2026, Ahmad Saidali joined the panel “Capital Allocation in the Middle East: How Regional Investors Are Partnering with Global Managers.” The panel brought together some of the region’s most influential allocators.
He was joined by H.E. Maher Al Kaabi, Advisor to the Group Chairman and Independent Board Member, Alserkal Group; Maryam AlAli, Head of Fund Investments, Mubadala Capital; Dr. Sami Kamel, Chief Executive Officer, Dutco Cleantech, Dutco Group; and Amine Bentaleb, Managing Partner, Patrimium MFO. Axe Ali, Global Head of Fund Advisory and Private Markets, EY-Parthenon, moderated the discussion.
“A family office should begin with the family. We design the system before we select the products.”
The family office view
The discussion examined how regional capital evaluates global managers, structures those relationships and paces its commitments. Ahmad represented the perspective of family capital, where the starting point is the family itself rather than the manager.
His argument rested on sequence. A family’s circumstances define its capital structure. The structure shapes the strategic allocation, and the allocation sets each mandate. Managers are chosen last, against a role that has already been defined. Followed in this order, manager selection becomes a deliberate decision about who is best placed to fulfil that role, rather than a reaction to the most persuasive opportunity.
However many banks, managers and advisers a family appoints, the economic risk remains with one family, and one party must see it whole.
That is the role Redwood Heritage fulfils.
Ahmad develops the argument in full in Architecture Before Implementation.
Our thanks to CapLink Group for convening a summit of this calibre.
Redwood Heritage Multi-Family Office FZCO is a Dubai-based multi-family office licensed by the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority, headquartered at Sheikh Rashid Tower, Dubai, with established professional relationships in Geneva and Zurich. The firm advises families, founders and family offices on wealth architecture, governance, succession and the coordination of capital across jurisdictions.
Ahmad Saidali is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Redwood Heritage Multi-Family Office in Dubai, and a global asset allocator with sixteen years of family office experience. His career spans Swiss private banking and family office leadership, including leading one of the DIFC’s earliest multi-family offices from its incorporation, a firm recognised as Best Multi-Family Office MENA at the WealthBriefing MENA Awards under his leadership.
