The head of the Kuwait Investment Authority’s London office has been fired with immediate effect.
Saleh al-Ateeqi, who was hired from consultancy McKinsey to lead the Kuwait Investment Office in 2018, was dismissed on Thursday, according to a memo from the board of the KIA. He is leaving without the usual three-month notice period, the memo said.
The dismissal follows a period of turbulence at one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds that has been characterised by high staff turnover and legal battles with former employees.
“The termination of the contract for the chief executive of the London-Kuwait investment office Saleh [Al Ateeqi is] effective the date of this decision’s issuance, and relieving him of the three-month notice period, and settling his dues on this basis,” said the letter, which was signed by Kuwaiti finance minister Abdel Wahhab Mohammed al Rashid.
The KIO is the active management arm of the Kuwaiti sovereign wealth fund. Neither of the entities disclose their assets under management or performance. Several people familiar with both of them said KIO oversees about $300bn of the parent organisation’s estimated $700bn in assets under management.
