Peter Smith knows more than most about stock markets. Nowadays, he’s chief executive of the Dubai-based Global Equity Partners, which advises small to medium enterprises (SMEs) on how to raise money and, potentially, launch an IPO on exchanges in the region.
“There’s a plethora of misguided young companies in the SME space who don’t know where to turn,” says Mr Smith. “We bring them under our wing and help them operationally here in the Middle East, raising capital here or abroad and helping them achieve public listings. It usually takes two to four years.”
He certainly has the experience to make this happen.
Back in 1986, in the decade when “yuppies” (young upwardly mobile professionals) were making a mark for themselves in the world’s big cities, the 18-year-old Mr Smith became one of the youngest qualified stockbrokers in the UK. He was the quintessential yuppie, having risen from humble beginnings on the edge of Toxteth in Liverpool with a father who worked as a labourer.
“The neighbourhood I grew up in was dreadful. Most people were unemployed,” says Mr Smith, 46, who adds that this drove him to better himself.
His determination led him to train to become a stockbroker, and by 1987 he was trading on the London stock market floor.
“Going from a very poor situation in Liverpool to this Thatcherite stock exchange was incredible. We’d work 12 hours a day, but you didn’t feel like you were, because there was continually that buzz in the air.”
Mr Smith became an options trader, generating US$200 million of trades a month. When he started out, the open outcry method – shouting and the use of hand signals to transfer information about buy and sell orders – was still in use in the UK.
“It was slow, because you were relying on human ability to pass a message from A to B, and often from B to C,” he recalls.
In 1993, at the age of 25, Mr Smith set up the international financial services business Belgravia.
It made its debut on the Nasdaq Junior Boards with a market capitalisation of $40m, and by 2006 had 23 worldwide offices and $2.2 billion under management. But the same year, at the age of 38, Mr Smith decided to go out on a high, and resigned.
“When people used to ask me ‘where do you live?’, I’d say ‘seat 1A’ because I spent an awful lot of time on planes. It’s a tough gig to do for a long time. I’d employed 325 people and had built the business to a point where I needed to replace myself. As it happens we were bought out by another institution, which left me in a nice position.”
Mr Smith retired to Spain along with his wife and two children, now 17 and 19.
"But I was still looking for something to get my teeth into. The turning point came in 2008 when I was approached to help float a company called M1. I helped them raise money and go into the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. I decided there was a gap in the market, to help SMEs without charging a pile of money. Instead we would take equity, which means you're sitting alongside them. That's our USP [unique selling proposition].
“Because I’d been a broker I knew how to take people public, and after having 23 offices worldwide I had a wide reach of connections. When people want to explore whatever market, I know people to help them.”
Mr Smith then launched Global Equity Partners, with operations in Dubai, the United States and London, and moved to Dubai in 2010.
“When property prices were plummeting and everyone was leaving town, I thought that was a good time to get some roots in the Dubai business community, because people wouldn’t be so busy. It proved to be a good decision.”
GE Partners is now poised to launch a special opportunities fund run out of Luxembourg, geared towards the UAE SMEs.
“We’ll raise capital from Europe and the Middle East into the fund and build a board who can deploy that capital into the SME space here. There are almost 8,000 SMEs in Dubai,” says Mr Smith. “We see this as a massive opportunity.
Next year Mr Smith plans to open offices in Sri Lanka and Thailand, and expand his London office. He currently operates with a team of five in Dubai, and five in the UK.
“Most of my days now are spent working with companies on their financing, their capital raising strategy, or their potential IPO,” adds Mr Smith.
“There’s no better feeling than when you have a success story. It’s not an arduous task coming to work these days.”
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Match info:
Wolves 1
Boly (57')
Manchester City 1
Laporte (69')
'Spies in Disguise'
Director: Nick Bruno and Troy Quane
Stars: Will Smith, Tom Holland, Karen Gillan and Roshida Jones
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Company Profile
Company name: Namara
Started: June 2022
Founder: Mohammed Alnamara
Based: Dubai
Sector: Microfinance
Current number of staff: 16
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Family offices
TUESDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court
Starting at 2pm:
Malin Cilic (CRO) v Benoit Paire (FRA) [8]
Not before 4pm:
Dan Evans (GBR) v Fabio Fogini (ITA) [4]
Not before 7pm:
Pablo Carreno Busta (SPA) v Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) [2]
Roberto Bautista Agut (SPA) [5] v Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)
Court One
Starting at 2pm
Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND) v Dennis Novak (AUT)
Joao Sousa (POR) v Filip Krajinovic (SRB)
Not before 5pm:
Rajeev Ram (USA) and Joe Salisbury (GBR) [1] v Marin Cilic v Novak Djokovic (SRB)
Nikoloz Basilashvili v Ricardas Berankis (LTU)
TWISTERS
Director:+Lee+Isaac+Chung
Starring:+Glen+Powell,+Daisy+Edgar-Jones,+Anthony+Ramos
Rating:+2.5/5
The biog
Favourite food: Fish and seafood
Favourite hobby: Socialising with friends
Favourite quote: You only get out what you put in!
Favourite country to visit: Italy
Favourite film: Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
Family: We all have one!
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
The specs: 2018 Dodge Durango SRT
Price, base / as tested: Dh259,000
Engine: 6.4-litre V8
Power: 475hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 640Nm @ 4,300rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.7L / 100km
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: SmartCrowd
Started: 2018
Founder: Siddiq Farid and Musfique Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech / PropTech
Initial investment: $650,000
Current number of staff: 35
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Various institutional investors and notable angel investors (500 MENA, Shurooq, Mada, Seedstar, Tricap)
UFC FIGHT NIGHT: SAUDI ARABIA RESULTS
Main card
Middleweight:
Robert Whittaker defeated Ikram Aliskerov via knockout (Round 1)
Heavyweight:
Alexander Volkov def Sergei Pavlovich via unanimous decision
Middleweight:
Kelvin Gastelum def Daniel Rodriguez via unanimous decision
Middleweight:
Shara Magomedov def Antonio Trocoli via knockout (Round 3)
Light heavyweight:
Volkan Oezdemir def Johnny Walker via knockout (Round 1)
Preliminary Card
Lightweight:
Nasrat Haqparast def Jared Gordon via split decision
Featherweight:
Felipe Lima def Muhammad Naimov via submission (Round 3)
Welterweight:
Rinat Fakhretdinov defeats Nicolas Dalby via split decision
Bantamweight:
Muin Gafurov def Kang Kyung-ho via unanimous decision
Light heavyweight:
Magomed Gadzhiyasulov def Brendson Ribeiro via majority decision
Bantamweight:
Chang Ho Lee def Xiao Long via split decision
UK record temperature
38.7C (101.7F) set in Cambridge in 2019
The biog:
From: Wimbledon, London, UK
Education: Medical doctor
Hobbies: Travelling, meeting new people and cultures
Favourite animals: All of them
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
On racial profiling at airports
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder
Transmission: CVT
Power: 119bhp
Torque: 145Nm
Price: Dh,89,900 ($24,230)
On sale: now
The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler
Price, base / as tested Dh57,000
Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm
Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km
COMPANY PROFILE
Date started: 2020
Founders: Khaldoon Bushnaq and Tariq Seksek
Based: Abu Dhabi Global Market
Sector: HealthTech
Number of staff: 100
Funding to date: $15 million
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5