General Atlantic, a global growth equity firm, has appointed Samir Assaf as a Senior Advisor.
He will also serve as a member of the Advisory Board for BeyondNetZero, General Atlantic’s new climate venture. Based in London, Samir brings with him more than three decades of financial services experience and will advise on a range of areas, including sourcing, developing relationships with entrepreneurs around the world and portfolio company support.
Assaf spent 27 years at HSBC in a number of key leadership roles. Most recently, he was the Chairman of Corporate and Institutional Banking, with responsibility for strengthening HSBC’s ties with its most important clients and partners, while supporting the bank with the development of its sustainability strategy and new partnership models. Prior to this role, Assaf led HSBC’s Global Banking and Markets division as Chief Executive for a decide.
Assaf will continue to support HSBC and its businesses via his role as an advisor to the Group Chairman and Group CEO and as Non-Executive Chairman of the Boards of HSBC Bank Middle East Limited (HBME) and HSBC Middle East Holdings BV (HMEH).
Gabriel Caillaux, Co-President, Managing Director and Head of General Atlantic’s business in EMEA, says: “Samir’s deep experience leading global businesses and expansive network will prove a valuable addition to our team, particularly in bolstering General Atlantic’s network and deepening our expertise in Europe, the Middle East and beyond.”
Assaf says: “It is an exciting time to be joining General Atlantic, given the firm’s continued development and strong track record of partnering with leading entrepreneurs. I look forward to collaborating with the General Atlantic global team as they identify and support some of the most exciting growth businesses and help them scale.”
Assaf also serves as Co-Chair of the Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment (CCRI), the organisation launched at the UN Climate Action Summit in 2019 by public and private institutions across the global financial industry to foster the more efficient integration of physical climate risks in investment decision-making. He also served as Chairman of the Global Financial Markets Association from 2014 to 2017.
