Shahid Kazi’s extensive professional experience spans over 28+ years in a variety of corporate sectors including consulting, banking, finance, real estate, engineering and project management. Having worked for over 10 years in the Corporate & Investment Banking Division of Citigroup and over 4 years in engineering and industrial project management at SIEMENS, he provides insightful leadership to ValuStrat’s consulting practice. Shahid joined ValuStrat as Partner & Managing Director in 2009 and spearheaded the company’s growth to become one of the leading consultancies in the region. He also led ValuStrat’s international expansion, especially in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom and Qatar. His multi-faceted qualifications and hands-on experience in various professional fields make him ideally suited to lead ValuStrat as its CEO, a position he took over in 2013.

During his stint at Citigroup, he worked in various local and regional management positions within the Corporate and Investment Banking Division in Pakistan, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates where he dealt with a whole range of corporate sectors including public sector, multinationals, local corporations, and financial institutions. He has also been extensively involved in several international capital market transactions on behalf of Citigroup. Shahid’s project management experience in the Industries & Automation Division of SIEMENS also adds significant value to various consulting projects.

Shahid is passionate about charitable work for promoting education. He is an active volunteer and Board Member of CARE Foundation, a renowned charity organization providing quality education to underprivileged children in Pakistan.

Shahid is a Britannia Chevening Scholar and holds an MBA in Finance with Distinction from Imperial College, London and a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering with Honors from University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore. He is an active speaker at international and regional conferences, seminars and leadership events. Shahid has also received a large number of accolades and awards for a variety of exceptional academic and professional achievements.

Kevin works with ValuStrat to drive the next stage of growth for the company’s Advisory Division. He has more than 35 years’ experience, combining a strong history of professional business advisory gained working for world-class firms such as KPMG and OC&C Strategy Consultants, with a variety of positions in operational management.

Prior to joining ValuStrat he spent six years at EC Harris leading their Strategy and Transformation initiatives within a built asset and social infrastructure vertical – with a focus on strategy development, business planning and programme management of large complex international commissions such as:

> Restructuring of the Directorate of Government Buildings, Jordan – to enable more efficient asset management of a portfolio of 10,000+ buildings
> Concept development and  feasibility study for an Islamic Tourist Resort island off the coast of Kuwait City
> Development of an estates management strategy for a leading Abu Dhabi based developer with US$ 75b of mixed use assets
> A strategic procurement approach for HK$ 15b of capex and opex spend for the Hong Kong Jockey Club
> Developing an FM strategy for a F1 race track venue in UAE
> Developing a health and education facilities strategy for a new city in Qatar with projected population of 450,000+

Kevin specialises in addressing the people, process and systems aspects of transformational change in large public and private organisations across a variety of industries and sectors, including the full real estate value chain, education, healthcare, financial services, and family business.

He has a track record of successful organisation structuring, Business Process Improvement, cost saving realisation, and implementation of performance management systems. Additionally, he has strong leadership qualities, and the ability to energise and mentor teams across a range of projects.

He holds a MBA from Bradford University Management Centre.

Declan leads ValuStrat’s real estate valuations and research and brings over 25 years of international experience. He is a Professional Member of The Royal Institutions of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS), UK as well as a Professional Member of The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (MSCSI).

Prior to joining ValuStrat, Declan was Manager – Valuation & Research Department at Hamptons International UAE where he was instrumental in enhancing the division’s business and processes. He also served as Manager, Residential Valuations with Colliers International based in Abu Dhabi. Prior to moving to the Middle East, Declan had a 21 year career in property development, sales & valuations in Dublin, Ireland.

Declan’s advisory and valuation experience encompasses a broad range of reporting on all asset types for lending, audit, legal & transactional requirements. He has dealt with an extensive variety of clients including government entities, financial institutions, multinational & local corporations and private individuals.

Declan’s over two decades of successful experience in real estate involving business development, sales, processes and independent advisory brings a wealth of knowledge, integrity and maturity to ValuStrat’s consulting business.

Jang has over 25 years of extensive experience in the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in various facets of real estate. He is ValuStrat’s Managing Director & Head of Real Estate for Saudi Arabia and leads real estate valuation and advisory business in KSA, including assignments related to real estate valuations, market research, construction project monitoring, and technical building condition due diligence.

He is an entrepreneurial-minded executive with extensive experience in various facets of real estate, property and construction. His experience includes almost 10 years in KSA & GCC and over 17 years in the United Kingdom, encompassing transformational leadership, managing large multi-cultural teams, coaching, mentoring and capacity building in various aspects of Real Estate Valuation & Advisory.

Jang has a wide spectrum of management and real estate expertise including business strategy & transformation, commercial valuations, feasibility appraisals, market research, property management (land & tenant matters), public and private sector asset valuations and corporate real estate solutions.

He is also experienced in landlord and tenant matters including leasing, lease renewals, rent review negotiations, and leasing of high-profile prestigious assets. Jang is especially adept in commercial valuations for iconic buildings, ‘trophy assets’ and large masterplans along with building condition surveys, and construction project management across all asset classes.

Jang is a Professional Member of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and holds a BSc (Hons.) in Land Management, London. He is an RICS Registered Valuer and a Fellow of TAQEEM (Saudi Authority for Accredited Valuers).

Darshan leads ValuStrat’s Industrial Consulting Division and is actively involved in client management, business development as well as full execution, project & team management of this business for all our group offices in UAE, Saudi Arabia & Qatar.

Prior to ValuStrat, Darshan has over 18 years of experience with various multinational companies such as Knight Frank, Mott MacDonald, and Dun & Bradstreet. He has undertaken several technical due diligence and industrial asset valuation assignments across various sectors such as chemical, pharmaceutical, food & beverages, textiles, metals, power, electrical, etc. Darshan has also executed valuation projects relating to industrial real estate. In addition, he has significant experience in undertaking various other consulting assignments and roles such as techno-economic feasibility & viability studies, project monitoring, and lender’s engineer.

Darshan is a Professional Member of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS), U.K and a Fellow Member & Approved Plant & Machinery Valuer of The Institution of Valuers, New Delhi. He also holds a B.Sc Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Mumbai, India.

Khurram leads our execution team for the Advisory business and possesses strong analytical and execution skills in the areas of strategy, research, financial modeling and business valuation.

In his current role at ValuStrat, he has successfully led a large number of consulting engagements for a variety of clients across multiple industries. Khurram also has significant experience in equity research and has worked as Research Analyst for Timescape Capital (a hedge fund) covering NYSE listed companies spanning over Industrials, Homebuilders and several other industries. He has also worked with Invisor Securities (member Karachi Stock Exchange) covering the Fertilizers, Automobiles and Telecom sectors amongst others.

Khurram holds an MBA degree from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) where he was placed on the Dean’s honor list and was also the Silver Medalist for his outstanding academic performance. He obtained his BBA degree from Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi with major in Finance. Khurram has also cleared the CFA Level 3 examination and is a CFA charter holder.

While at LUMS, Khurram was awarded the Standard Chartered Bank Medal for “Financial Management” & Nestle Medal for “Marketing Management”. He also finished amongst the top 5 in The Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition, organized by Foster Business School, University of Washington for “Seraab” – the idea of reliably selling affordable irrigation water to small farmers using solar tube wells for ground water extraction and the existing water distribution system to reach farms.

Yousuf has over 20+ years of experience in a variety of sectors including audit, banking, real estate and capital markets and brings valuable expertise to ValuStrat’s consulting practice, especially in Saudi Arabia. He is a Saudi citizen and has previously worked as Vice President at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Dubai and Lehman Brothers/Nomura in London and Dubai, covering MENA clients in the Fixed Income sector. Prior to that he worked at SAMBA Financial Group and National Commercial Bank in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in product development and treasury sales, covering Saudi corporates and family offices. Yousuf has also worked with Deloitte in their Audit Division in Saudi Arabia.

Yousuf holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Accounting from King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and the CFA charter. He also has the honor of being awarded a certificate from the Guinness Book of World Records for “Youngest CPA in the World”. Yousuf is also a Member of TAQEEM (Saudi Authority for Accredited Valuers).

Pawel Banach is General Manager of ValuStrat’s Qatar operations and Director of Commercial Valuations. He has over 17 years of experience in real estate advisory, investment advisory, asset valuation, and commercial due diligence.

Prior to joining ValuStrat Qatar, Mr. Banach was Head of Valuation & Research at Land Sterling in Dubai, UAE, where he was responsible for delivering the department’s strategic objectives and managing all outputs. Before moving to the GCC region, his past experience includes roles with international companies such as Deloitte, Savills, Knight Frank, and Prologis. In Deloitte, Pawel was Manager of the Real Estate Advisory Division and managed a team of consultants and senior consultants involved in various assignments including feasibility studies, real estate appraisals and plant & machinery valuations.

During his career, Pawel has undertaken valuation and development appraisal assignments in all asset classes ranging from residential, offices and industrial projects to large retail and mall offerings. Additionally, he also advised a number of key stakeholders during the process of investment and due diligence.

He is a professional member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) as well as a Polish Qualified Valuer. Pawel holds a Master’s Degree in Property Appraisal and Management from Sheffield Hallam University (UK) as well as an Engineering Degree in Land Surveying from Warsaw University of Technology.

Vismer has over 25 years post-graduate qualification experience in property and other business asset valuations, property management/property development consultancy, real estate and rating valuations in the UK and Africa. Vismer is a Chartered Valuation Surveyor registered as a Professional Member with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS), UK. He is registered as a Corporate Member with The Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation (IRRV), UK along with The Institute of Realtors of South Africa (MIRSA), South Africa.

Vismer has conducted major valuation assignments in the UAE and across the GCC. His areas of specialization at ValuStrat include valuation and assessment of plants, machinery, and various types of commercial, industrial and residential properties. Vismer is also responsible for conducting investment appraisals and quantitative analysis for investment properties for all our major clients.

Vismer undertook various assignments including capital and rental valuations of a variety of commercial, industrial and residential properties for various private companies and organizations in the UK and in Africa. Some of his other assignments in the past include valuations of hotels, airports, port harbours, various sized commercial/industrial properties, and various single and multi-tenanted residential properties/complexes.

Cheryl McAdam is an MRICS Chartered Valuation Surveyor with over 25 years property valuation experience in all asset classes – both regionally and internationally.

Cheryl is Director – Residential Valuations at our Dubai Head office. Her international valuation knowledge has been garnered mainly in South Africa, with guest valuations in Tunisia and Seychelles and over 13 years working in the UAE covering both Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

She is a professional member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS) as well as a professional member of the South African Council for Property Valuers Profession (SACPVP) and holds an Appointment as Appraiser to the High Court of South Africa.

Prior to her current role she was with Colliers International – Abu Dhabi and Continental Survey & Evaluation – Dubai. Her reporting credentials include residential property, commercial premises, industrial assets, agricultural holdings, hotels, retail malls and vacant lands for secured finance, transactional, audit and risk assessment purposes.

Cheryl’s deep valuation capabilities are complemented with a strong client focus and business development skills in expanding relationships with an array of Middle East banks and financial institutions, private and syndicated Investors, insurance brokers, master developers and government departments.

John leads ValuStrat’s transaction advisory business and brings over 30 years of international experience including 18 years in Asia. He has worked in Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Germany, Spain, France, Malta, Oman, UAE, Iran and Turkey.

Before joining ValuStrat, John has worked with Dar Al Aqar Real Estate as Executive Director of Capital Markets (Real Estate) and other international firms including Kentz (Member of SNC Lavalin Group), Merchant City Capital Partners and Mivan. He has over 20 years of acquisitions and dispositions experience in the Real Estate, Oil & Gas and Private Equity space. During his career, John has advised Corporates, Family Offices, Private Equity, REITs, Funds and High Net Worth Investors on a global basis on Infrastructure, Hotels, Commercial Offices, Student Housing, Energy, Education, Healthcare and Automotive.

While working in diversified emerging markets, he has negotiated en-bloc transactions for developers with a particular focus on S&P negotiations and deals closure. Moreover, John has extensive experience in developing the marketing strategy for property funds in Asia and has established an impressive clientele, whilst also undertaking market feasibility studies for some of them.

Haider heads ValuStrat’s real estate research department with responsibility for our delivery of informed market commentary, bespoke research work and MIS.

Arriving in Dubai in 1997, Haider has more than 34 years’ experience in real estate research, property valuation & development, corporate training, solution development and banking, with past roles in the UAE, UK and Iraq.

Haider holds a BSc in Statistical Sciences and has an IT certification background with extensive experience in market research, information management, data analysis, system development and training.

Prior to joining ValuStrat, Haider was Head of Real Estate Research Dubai at Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank’s subsidiary MPM Properties.

Previously, he was Manager Valuation, MIS and Research at Limitless LLC, a Dubai World Company, responsible for real estate market research and valuation support of multi-billion Dirham master planned projects across the MENA region. He contributed to several major projects in Dubai including Downtown Jebel Ali, Jumeirah Village and International City. Haider was instrumental in providing accurate on time market intelligence utilising his data management experience and IT skills.

After studying at Bristol Polytechnic, Fraser started his London property career in West Hampstead, managing property in St Johns Wood, Bayswater, Marylebone, Hampstead, Highgate, Golders Green, and many points in-between. He qualified in 1986 whilst working for Healey & Baker in the West End and shortly thereafter moved to Barnard Marcus in Clapham before setting up and managing the Mayfair Professional Office. In 1991 Fraser joined the Inland Revenue’s Valuation Office as a Senior Valuer covering the London Boroughs of Wandsworth, Merton, Richmond & Kingston where he gained 10 years experience in valuing anything from houseboats to flour mills (but mostly land, houses, flats, factories, offices, and shops) for Probate/Inheritance Tax and Capital Gains Tax. In 2001 he re-entered the private sector, initially in Commercial Property as an Associate Director of Stiles Harold Williams then moved back into Residential Surveying and Valuation, most recently setting up Capital Chartered Surveyors and Valuers in 2009 with his former colleagues John and Robin.

Robin studied at South Bank and Anglia Poytechnics, obtaining his degree in Building Surveying. He set out first into Project Management on Luxury Hotel refurbishment and the spent 10 years in the Public Sector with Islington. He returned to the Private Sector in 2001 joining Colleys as a valuer, leaving in 2003 for Ashdown Lyons where he met his future business partners. Robin subsequently headed up to Prime Team at Shepherd Surveyors before leaving to the co-found Capital Chartered Surveyors and Valuers in 2009. Robin has over 25 years’ experience in Central London property.

Saadain joined ValuStrat in 2017, with a mandate to significantly enhance the marketing efforts of the group. As Head of Marketing, he is responsible for the development and execution of marketing and communication strategies across all regions. Saadain has over 14 years of experience as a marketing and communications professional. He has worked on several prominent brands and has been able to help them grow and transform their market positioning and brand equity. He has previously worked with three of the largest global advertising groups in Pakistan namely Ogilvy & Mather, Leo Burnett, and Grey. Saadain’s previous clients included large global and local brands such as British American Tobacco, Philips, Engro Foods Limited (Royal Friesland Campina), P&G, OLX, Emirates, Castrol, Glaxo SmithKline, and Habib Bank Limited. His diverse marketing and communication experience internationally has honed him into becoming a strategic marketing and communications specialist. Saadain holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from SZABIST and has bagged several prestigious Pakistan Advertisers Society (PAS) awards for the campaigns he worked on during his time in the advertising industry.

At ValuStrat, he has been instrumental in propelling the brand to greater heights of success with technologically advanced, engaging and integrated marketing strategies across all communication mediums.

Sean has over ten years’ experience working within the UK and GCC as a valuation surveyor. His professional experience has been gained from leading international and local based practices with geographical coverage incorporating the UK, KSA, and currently the UAE.

His professional knowledge encompasses numerous property asset classes including office, retail, industrial, hospitality, residential and labour accommodation. Sean has worked on behalf of a range of client types including international and local banks, lending institutions, developers, investors, and owner occupiers.

Sean is a Chartered Surveyor (MRICS) and a Registered Valuer for the RICS. He is also an active panel member in the assessment of APC candidates seeking to obtain their Chartered status.

Mehreen is an innovative professional with an accomplished career track record of over 15 years across industries ranging from the power sector, FMCG, financial institutions and HR advisory as well as consulting.

Prior to joining ValuStrat, she worked for the Habib Group in close coordination with the executive management, developing Policies, Training and Development, and Recruitment. Mehreen has also worked for Byco Oil – Pakistan’s largest oil refinery, Colgate Palmolive, Engage Consulting, HRSI (Human Resource Solutions International).

She holds a BS.c degree in Computer Science from Griffith College, Dublin.

Kashif has over 18 years of multi-faceted experience working in various business sectors including 4+ years working with Ernst & Young’s Transaction Advisory Services. Kashif has worked across a diverse array of business sectors including the financial sector, aviation, insurance, government services, corporate finance, transaction advisory and management consultancy where he has worked with clients from healthcare, financial sector, aviation, government agencies, oil & gas, ecommerce, logistics, education, medical supplies manufacturing & trading, other manufacturing and trading, food & beverage, FMCGs and many other sectors. Kashif has extensive experience in performing Business Valuations, Feasibility Studies, Business Plans, Market Research Studies, Financial and Commercial Due Diligence studies, Intangible valuations, Purchase Price Allocation and Impairment Testing, IFRS related advisory, Internal & Forensic Audits, Risk Assessment with review & gap analysis of policies and procedures framework, Turnaround strategies and Transaction Advisory.

Kashif has also worked extensively on Public Private Partnership projects, working closely with government and semi government agencies, PPP units and organisations where he has advised on various aspects of different infrastructure projects to be taken to market under the PPP model and has performed pre-feasibility, feasibility and post feasibility assignments for a number of infrastructure projects including tourism, roads, sewage treatment plants, labour accommodations, hotels, sport arenas and stadia etc.

Kashif is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan, Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and Pakistan Institute of Public Finance Accountants.

Anthony joined ValuStrat in 2017 as a Senior Valuer and has progressed fast, currently holding the position of Associate Director, Valuations at ValuStrat Qatar. He has over 8 years of experience in real estate advisory, involving property valuations, development appraisals, market research and rental assessment studies.

Before joining ValuStrat, Anthony held the Valuer and Research Analyst position for Land Sterling Property Consultants, Dubai. During that tenure, he conducted multiple real estate evaluations and successfully executed advisory assignments for major corporate clients, including banks. He was also involved in developing quarterly real estate market research and economic analysis reports. Before moving to the UAE, he worked as a Property Valuer and Operations Manager in Sri Lanka, where he built expertise in portfolios valuations for secured lending, auditing, and transactions. Besides, he was also involved in multiple advisory projects for private Sri Lankan developers and municipalities.

Anthony holds an Honors degree in BSc Hons. Real Estate from the University of Greenwich, London, with majors in various aspects of real estate such as property valuation, advisory, sustainability, building technology and estate management. He is a Professional Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

Abdur Rahman has served ValuStrat since 2012 and has more than 15 years of experience in a variety of areas. He was instrumental in setting up our Field Verification (FV) / Contact Point Verification (CPV) business several years ago, which was a game changer for many banks that wanted to outsource their KYC and due diligence process for SMEs and retail banking customers.

Abdur Rahman’s multi-faceted expertise in technology, surveying and client management enabled us to create an ipad based solution for our banking clients through our tailor-made proprietary software ‘Valuware’, which delivers verification and due diligence reports in as little as 3 hours from the time of survey. This also led to the Mandoob service offering to Islamic banks who required verification and due diligence on the physical assets taken as collateral for Islamic financing requirements. Abdur Rahman manages a large team of surveyors, call-center staff and technology experts who seamlessly carry out this sensitive business for some of the largest banks in the region.

Sheraz Khan has been serving ValuStrat since 2004 and has more than 25 years of experience in a variety of areas. He brings tremendous expertise to our Automobiles and Heavy Equipment valuations business. His deep knowledge in these sectors has enabled ValuStrat to become a very reliable source of data and analytics for top banking clients who finance automobiles and heavy equipment extensively.

Sheraz has successfully trained a team of surveyors and analysts under his able guidance who carry out the tasks of this division accurately and efficiently. Our unmatched turnaround time in this business is extremely helpful for banks who rely on our due diligence and valuation expertise before extending car loans and heavy equipment financing to their clients. Sheraz’s long standing service has gained the trust of clients as well as of other divisions of ValuStrat who often require data on auto and heavy equipment as part of larger assignments.

Naveed has over 7 years of experience in the real estate sector in Saudi Arabia, including property appraisals and valuations, feasibility studies for land development, REITs and real estate funds, market research, highest & best use studies and advisory for mixed-use land development concepts.

Naveed currently focuses on commercial real estate valuation and research instructions covering various mixed-use assets across KSA. Before joining ValuStrat, Naveed worked at Century 21 in Saudi Arabia, where he managed real estate research and advisory assignments covering both private and public sector clients across KSA.

Naveed has completed most of the requirements of an MSc in Real Estate Management from the University of West of England, UK, a programme accredited by RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors). His current work experience will support the remaining requirements for completing this valuable degree. Naveed also holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University, UK.

Anum joined ValuStrat in 2017 and since then, she has been at the forefront of our growing team in Qatar. Currently heading the research team in Qatar, she is actively publishing informed market commentaries, bespoke research reports and providing research support to other business divisions.

At ValuStrat, she also manages the research database to support the Valuation and Strategic Advisory Divisions. She has also launched ValuStrat Price Index (Residential Market) in Qatar from Q1 2018 in collaboration with the Valuation Division, an index that monitors the change in residential prices and rents quarterly for 16 locations across Qatar.

Before joining ValuStrat, Anum worked with a management and investment consultancy, Concept Qatar, as a Business Development Manager. She was involved in scoping potential clients and researching new trends in the construction and real estate sectors of Qatar.

She has also worked as a Research Fellow on various social development and policy centric projects with international Non-Government Organisations like USAID, UNICEF and World Bank. Anum has two publications under her name, used as training materials for seminars for public sector representatives in Pakistan. Her main specialisation is in qualitative and quantitative research methods.

She holds an MSc honours degree in Economics from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), where she was also awarded top position in her batch.