dr. sayed shuja ali

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Dr Shuja Ali’s career path started in clinical medicine and then within the business sector has held roles in strategic consulting, internet-enabled start-ups, venture capital and then private equity and real-estate investment funds.

 

Dr. Shuja Ali manages a private equity and real-estate fund in Dubai. Prior to this, he has spent the last decade managing Istithmar World, one of the government of Dubai’s private equity and real-estate fund, managing over $10bn across a diverse set of geographies, asset classes and sectors including consumer (healthcare, education and retail), financial services, industrial and real-estate; in private equity, publicly traded positions and venture capital. Following the restructuring at Istithmar World in 2009, Dr. Shuja Ali was appointed to the firm’s Executive Management Team. As Chief Investment Officer (CIO), he reported directly to the Board of Dubai World and was responsible for all aspects of managing the fund and the staff. Dr. Ali was in charge of exiting the entire portfolio in a managed process, including follow-on investments (~$900m between 2010-2015), and ultimately all divestments. This process was completed in October 2016, adding over $4bn in realized net cash value since 2009.

 

Prior to Istithmar Shuja had a dual role: he co-led the setting up of the Dubai office for The Monitor Group, a strategic management firm with a private equity fund, and in 2003 also founded The Sajo Group, Inc., a boutique strategic management and investment advisory consulting firm headquartered in California, USA, with a presence in Dubai, that provided consulting and due diligence advice to clients focusing on select industries (healthcare services and technology enablers) and special situations (primarily based on setting up the appropriate mechanisms to monetize either existing or new investments).

 

Shuja’s business experience began in London in 1994 at McKinsey & Company, Inc., a strategic management consulting firm, where he focused equally between financial services and healthcare (medical devices, pharmaceutical). Later, in 1998, he joined Mitchell Madison Group in Los Angeles, another strategic consulting firm, where he focused on financial services and healthcare services (payer, provider, e-services).

 

In early 2000, Shuja, along with some other Mitchell Madison Group partners, founded an e-procurement company, Zeborg where he led the healthcare and labor-related products division. There he developed technology applications and services to assist clients and suppliers in the payer and provider space to more efficiently source medical and pharmacy benefits.

 

He then joined Broadlane in 2002, a supply chain group purchasing organization (GPO), as their head of new business development where he set up the largest outsourced temporary clinical staffing management services company in the US, with over $400 million of spend under management for hospital clients, using a mix of e- technology and dedicated teams. These new business lines contributed an additional 50% to the EBITDA of Broadlane.

Over the past decade, Shuja has been a member of Board of Directors or non-executive committees of a number of privately held assets ranging from healthcare, retailers, retail banking to name a few.

 

Prior to becoming a strategy consultant, Shuja was a physician in the United Kingdom, trained in general surgery. He also assisted to develop the London office for the Healthcare Advisory Board, a research- consulting firm, and consulted to a number of British National Health Service hospitals.

 

Outside of work, Shuja spends the rest of his time with his wife, Nazia, and their four children. While in California, Shuja volunteered at the Los Angeles Free Clinic since 1998, and helped them set up an alternative medicine program. He also contributes his time and funding to healthcare venture start-ups via Dubai Angel Investors.

Shuja gained his medical degree (MBBS) from St. George’s Hospital Medical School, University of London and his Masters degree in public and private management (MBA) from Yale University.