The Family in Qatar Getting Back Into Energy
 

A few weeks ago I wrote about a young family office in Riyadh that was breaking away from a dynasty and charting its own course. This has become something of a trend in the region, with younger branches looking to emulate western single-family offices. But elsewhere in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), other families continue to grow and operate in a more traditional manner—and are doing so incredibly well.
 

During my visit to Doha, Qatar, last month I met many of the local players, including Al Faisal Holding, one of Qatar's most established multi-generational family entities. Founded by H.E Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani, a relative of the ruling Al Thani family but not in the line of succession, the firm got its start as a simple automotive company in 1964 and—while maintaining its status as a family enterprise—has since grown to become one of the largest conglomerates in the country. Today, the firm controls 80 portfolio companies across several sectors, overseen by a board and a general assembly comprising family members of Sheikh Faisal.

Ali Mahmoudy is chief investment and strategy officer at the firm. While not a family member he holds a key role within the organization and has helped shape the investment strategy and manage the portfolio companies during the last five years. In his office in Doha, high up in one of the family-owned office buildings in the center of the city, he told me that while the economics of the GCC region may be unique, in part due to a reliance on oil and gas revenue, like any investment officer his key priority is diversification.

This has meant a change in approach in recent years and less reliance on the real estate development that got the family where it is today. He told me that the shock of the pandemic pushed the family into new areas including technology, manufacturing, and healthcare, among other sectors.

The firm also has a renewed interest in energy. This does not mean a return to the 1980s and 1990s when the family was entrenched in oil and gas but is indicative of intentions to take advantage of new state initiatives. Qatar National Vision 2030, established to help transform the country into one capable of sustainable development in 2008, and TAWTEEN, a QatarEnergy led initiative to help to keep the LNG supply chain within the country, kickstart renewable and clean energy production, encourage local involvement in production and enhance economic diversification, mean that the timing is right to reinvest, said Mahmoudy.

It is also hard to ignore that Qatar is set to embark on a new LNG project in the north of the country next year that could boost production by 85 percent and see the country become one of the-if not the-largest gas exporters in the world. Rather than try to build out expertise, Al Faisal is looking to enter through established partnerships with sophisticated international players.