Ziyad Alfawzan is a Senior Director at the Public Investment Fund (PIF), where he leads the team responsible for developing and executing the Fund’s capital finance strategy. He oversees the formulation of PIF’s funding strategy and ensures that all financing and credit rating activities—across both the Fund and its portfolio companies—are conducted in line with global best practices. Ziyad played a pivotal role in leading PIF’s inaugural credit rating, establishing a foundation of credibility and transparency as the Fund entered international capital markets. In addition to his work in capital markets, he advises on PIF’s long-term investment strategy and contributes to broader strategic initiatives that support the Fund’s mandate under Vision 2030.He holds a Master degree from Columbia University, and brings a global perspective and deep financial expertise to one of the world’s largest and most influential sovereign investment institutions.

Ziyad Alfawzan is a Senior Director at the Public Investment Fund (PIF), where he leads the team responsible for developing and executing the Fund’s capital finance strategy. He oversees the formulation of PIF’s funding strategy and ensures that all financing and credit rating activities—across both the Fund and its portfolio companies—are conducted in line with global best practices. Ziyad played a pivotal role in leading PIF’s inaugural credit rating, establishing a foundation of credibility and transparency as the Fund entered international capital markets. In addition to his work in capital markets, he advises on PIF’s long-term investment strategy and contributes to broader strategic initiatives that support the Fund’s mandate under Vision 2030.He holds a Master degree from Columbia University, and brings a global perspective and deep financial expertise to one of the world’s largest and most influential sovereign investment institutions.

David Aldrich is Managing Director of the EMEA Commercial Group, with responsibility for all Moody’s customer relationships in EMEA, across both Developed and Emerging Markets, for Fundamental and Structured Finance. 

David is also Managing Director for relationships with Global Sovereign and Multilateral Development Banks, and previously was Head of Emerging-EMEA for Regional Management. Prior to joining Moody’s in 2013, David managed various fixed income, derivatives and securities services businesses at UBS, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and, latterly, BNY Mellon. At BNY Mellon, David was EMEA Business Executive for both Alternative Investment Services and Broker-Dealer Services, and was also Head of Securities Industry Banking, Europe within Global Client Management. 

David studied Economics at the University of Kent and is on the MBA Advisory Board at Bayes Business School, City, University of London.

Marie Diron is global head of Moody’s Sovereign and Sub-Sovereign Risk Group, with responsibility for credit ratings on countries, regional and local governments, public sector entities and multilateral development banks. Marie is also Moody’s Investors Service lead coordinator on ESG monitoring and integration across asset classes. 

Marie has worked in various functions at Moody’s in the Sovereign Risk Group and (then) Credit Policy. In particular, she was lead sovereign analyst for a number of Asia Pacific credits including Australia, China, India and some frontier market sovereigns. She then managed the Asia Pacific sovereign team, before expanding her responsibilities to today’s global role. Previously, in Credit Policy, Marie co-ordinated Moody’s Global Macro Outlook and other credit research. 

Marie was previously Director at Oxford Economics, leading the company’s forecasting and scenario analysis service to financial sector and corporate clients, after a number of years at the European Central Bank and Brevan Howard LLP. Marie received a MPhil in Economics from the University of Cambridge and graduated from the Ecole Centrale Paris.

Marc Pinto is the Global Head of Private Credit. In this role, he coordinates across the financial institutions, corporate, structured, and public and infrastructure finance rating groups to provide thought leadership, and ratings oversight in growth areas of the private credit market, including fund finance, private asset-backed securities, and privately placed investment-grade corporate assets. For over a decade, Marc has held a series of leadership roles of increasing scope and responsibility at Moody’s, including Global Co-Head of Insurance and Global Head of Funds & Asset Management.

Marc is deeply committed to educational and empowerment initiatives, acting as an Executive Sponsor for Moody's CFA and Global Administrative Professionals Networks, a Mentor Advisor in the Women’s Business Resource Group, and a frequent participant in career development seminars.

Marc’s extensive career in the fixed income credit markets, in New York and London, has included leadership roles at sell-side and buy-side firms including Merrill Lynch, Keefe Bruyette & Woods, and Susquehanna International. At Merrill Lynch, Marc was also a top-ranked financial institutions analyst.

Marc is a Chartered Financial Analyst and an alumnus of Columbia Business School and Trinity College (Connecticut).

Rahul Ghosh is Managing Director – Global Head of Sustainable Finance for Moody's Ratings.

Rahul leads global oversight for the credit rating agency’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and outreach strategy. In this capacity, he is responsible for co-ordinating high quality and impactful research exploring the credit implications of ESG, as well as digital and in-person outreach to meet the growing market needs of investors, issuers and other important stakeholders.

Rahul is a regular participant at high-profile industry working groups, market briefings, external conferences and media engagements. He is a member of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, a market-led initiative to develop a risk management and disclosure framework for nature-related risks. He has also represented Moody’s on the UN Principles for Responsible Investment's advisory committee on credit ratings and the Green and Social Bond Principles working groups. He has presented on the impact of climate change on emerging market sovereigns at the G20 Green Finance Study Group and on sustainable finance trends at the International Finance Corporation’s Global Debt Mobilization Conference.

Before his current role, Rahul oversaw Moody’s ESG Solutions Group outreach and engagement activities globally with the sustainability stakeholder community. He also previously worked in Moody’s Credit Strategy & Research team where he was responsible for thematic research and outreach on global emerging market (EM) credit trends. Prior to joining Moody’s in 2013, Rahul was the Head of Asia at BMI Research (Fitch Solutions) in Singapore, leading a team of macroeconomists and industry specialists in analysing sovereign risk, sector performance and the capital markets.

Rahul is a passionate impact leader for Moody’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in London, chairing the pillar on “activating an environmentally sustainable future”. He holds a Masters degree in Economics from the University of Edinburgh and a Certificate in ESG Investing from the CFA Society of the UK.

Nitish Bhojnagarwala is an Associate Managing Director with Moody’s Financial Institutions Group. Based in Dubai, Nitish covers a portfolio of large conventional as well as Islamic financial institutions in the Middle East, Africa and Turkey.

Nitish joined Moody’s in 2011, and has led sukuk roundtables and conducted workshops on Banking and Islamic finance at various conferences in the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Nitish has also authored several research pieces, with a focus on regional banking, credit issues and issuer-in-depths for conventional as well as Islamic banks.

Prior to joining Moody’s, Nitish spent five years at Tamweel in the Treasury function. He has also worked for KPMG in the UAE, where he covered financial institutions. Nitish holds an MBA from S P Jain Institute of Management & Research, with a major in Finance (Investment Banking).

Rehan Akbar is an Associate Managing Director in Moody’s EMEA Corporate Finance Group, based in Dubai. He currently manages the corporate team responsible for rating coverage of companies in the Middle East, Africa, Turkiye, and the CIS region. Prior to joining Moody’s in 2011, Rehan worked as a credit analyst at Mashreq Capital, focusing on emerging market corporates. He began his career as a software engineer and technology consultant.

Rehan holds a Master’s degree in Management Sciences and Engineering from Stanford University and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Lahore University of Management Sciences. He is also a CFA charterholder.

Jihad Al-Toukhi is Senior Vice President - Relationship Manager & Country Manager for Moody’s Investors Service, based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In this dual role, Jihad manages key MIS relationships in the region, with a mandate to consolidate and grow our business and relevance in KSA and the broader GCC region.Jihad has more than 17 years of experience working in several prominent organizations, including the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority and Middle East Financial Investment Company. Jihad has also founded businesses in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.During his career, Jihad has developed a range of skills in the fields of marketing, customer relationship management and communication. Jihad holds an MBA and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of San Diego, California

Ashraf Madani is a Vice President – Senior Analyst with Moody’s Financial Institutions Group. Based in Dubai, Ashraf covers a portfolio of large conventional as well as Islamic financial institutions in GCC. He is also responsible for the Saudi and Bahrain Banking system outlooks. Since Joining Moody’s in May 2017, Ashraf has authored many research pieces focusing on GCC credit, funding and liquidity conditions in addition to issuer in depth research. Before joining Moody’s in May 2017, Ashraf’s Career has been mostly in banking with 15+ years of experience working in international and regional banks like Citi, Arab Bank and First Abu Dhabi Bank. He spent most of his banking career working in the global markets and risk divisions where he developed extensive knowledge on GCC markets. His last position before joining Moody’s has been the Head of FIs and NBFIs Risk for National Bank of Abu Dhabi (FAB now) managing the credit risk for a large portfolio of GCC and international issuers.

Christian Fang is a Vice President and Senior Analyst with the Sovereign and Sub-Sovereign Risk Group at Moody’s Investors Service.

Based in Dubai, Christian serves as lead analyst for a portfolio of sovereigns in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, including Jordan, Kuwait, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka.

He is also lead analyst for the Gulf Investment Corporation and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, multilateral development banks serving the interests of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, respectively.

Christian was formerly based in Singapore covering a portfolio of predominantly Asia Pacific and Eurasian sovereigns and sub-sovereigns.

Prior to joining Moody’s, Christian was a Lead Portfolio Manager for the Monetary Authority of Singapore, where he was responsible for the investment of Singapore’s foreign reserves in European fixed income, global investment-grade credit, and global developed equity markets.

His time with the central bank included a two-and-a-half-year stint in London as its sole in-house investment representative. He also worked in monetary policy operations and macroprudential policy research, and was involved in the negotiation of Singapore’s renminbi swap line with China, as well as banking systemwide stress tests.

Christian holds an honors bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Chicago and a master’s degree in Finance from Princeton University.

Abdulla Al Hammadi serves as an Assistant Vice President with Moody's Financial Institutions Group. He is based in Dubai, where he oversees a portfolio of bank credit ratings across the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries, with a particular emphasis on Islamic financial institutions.

Abdulla joined Moody’s in 2024. Prior to his tenure at Moody's, Abdulla was an Associate Director at Fitch Ratings, covering financial institution ratings in the Middle East. Before Fitch Ratings, he was with the Central Bank of Bahrain, handling prudential supervision for wholesale banks.

Abdulla is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and earned a First-Class Honours degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Bahrain. He authored a book titled "Principles of Financial planning, Investment & Trading" aimed at providing comprehensive overview on passive style investment portfolio.

Aziz Al Sammarai joined Moody’s Corporate Finance in April, 2018. Aziz is based in Toronto office where he covers a portfolio of U.S. and Canadian based companies mainly in the paper and plastic packaging and forest products industry as well as Canadian based airlines and homebuilders. Prior to joining Moody’s, Aziz held multiple roles in the credit rating industry in Toronto. Previously, Aziz worked in external audit roles for KPMG.

Aziz has a Master’s in Finance from the Queen's University and a B.Sc. in Finance from the University of Bedfordshire Oman.

Paul Feghaly is an Analyst in Moody’s EMEA Corporate Finance Group based in Dubai. He covers a diversified portfolio, including but not limited to regulated utilities, telecom and real estate companies situated in the Middle East.He joined Moody’s Dubai office in 2018, and previously worked as a senior associate in PwC’s Capital Markets Advisory team for two years, covering IPO and debt transactions in the MENA region. Before that, he has spent around 5 years working in different regional audit and tax functions with both Deloitte and BDO International.Paul holds an associate degree in Audit and Accounting, has passed the US certified public accountant (CPA) examination, and completed the executive CORe program at Harvard Business School Online