Mr. Fahad Al-Shamlan currently serves as the VP- Investment & Acquisitions at Kuwait Real Estate Company. Throughout his career, Mr. Al-Shamlan has over 12 years of international investment and development expertise and has worked on projects with an overall valuation exceeding KWD 1.5 billion in a multitude of regions ranging from the Middle East, North America, the Carribean, Southeast Asia and Southern Africa.
During this time, he has been based in five different locations, including Miami, Florida, USA, Dubai- UAE, Bangkok- Thailand, Durban- South Africa, Beirut- Lebanon and Kuwait City- Kuwait. Mr. Al-Shamlan’s comprehensive academic background includes an undergraduate degree in Architecture (B-ARCH 2000) and an MBA in Finance and International Business (MBA-2004), both from the University of Miami. He has diverse experience managing large-scale real estate acquisition and development projects.
Mr. Al-Shamlan began his career at Forbes Architects in Miami, FL as an architectural draftsman, he was subsequently elevated to the position of Associate Project Manager within eight months, where he led the design and development team for several projects. His accomplishments included leading project programming teams that included design professionals, contractors, and partners; forming world-class design teams, managing vendor contracts and relationships as well as setting construction contract budgets. Mr. Al-Shamlan initiated new construction management methodologies for the company, employing more sophisticated construction methodologies into commercial development projects. While at Forbes, his clients included American Express, FedEx, American Classic Voyages, Government Services Administration (GSA), Colonial Bank, Allstate Insurance, Ryder Systems, Union Planters Bank, United Parcel Services, and Florida International University, among others.
Upon receiving his MBA in 2004, he joined Global Destinations Development LLC in Miami, FL. Established in 2001, Global Destinations is an independent real estate development firm and consultancy specializing in the financing, planning and development of Caribbean resort hotels and cruise ship destinations. The firm partners with international hotel brands, luxury cruise lines, and private equity. His responsibilities at Global encompassed consultancy in feasibility, finance, deal structuring, design & branding, and political economy & risk assessment. Clients and partners included Lehman Brothers, Hilton Hotels Corp., Government of Canada, Government of Bahamas, Government of Turks and Caicos, Government of Aruba, Carnival Ports Corp., Royal Caribbean Ltd. as well as a host of others.
Mr. Al-Shamlan’s most recent experience has been with a variety of organizations that fall under the IFA Group of Companies. In May 2008, he joined IFA Hotels & Resorts, a Dubai-based real estate investment company specializing in high-end resorts and accompanying branded residential real estate as Investment & Acquisitions Manager. He was brought aboard with the intent of establishing an acquisitions pipeline to North America as well as to expand the company’s assets in Asia.
Upon the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the onset of the global financial crisis in September 2008, Mr. Al-Shamlan was relocated to Bangkok, Thailand in order to spearhead the financial and operational reorganization of Raimon Land PLC, a listed company on the Bangkok Stock Exchange that was controlled by the IFA Group. While managing the reorganization of Raimon Land PLC, the company was able to restructure over KWD 60 million in debt, divest of over KWD 25 million worth of assets, and reduce the operating costs of the company by 55%.
Subsequent to the completion of his assignment in Bangkok, and in part due to his previous background as an architect, he was seconded to Durban, South Africa in order to facilitate the completion of construction on the Fairmont Zimbali Resort prior to the opening of the 2010 World Cup. Following the successful opening of the Fairmont Zimbali Resort, Mr. Al-Shamlan was relocated to Beirut, Lebanon to expedite the opening of the first phase of the Al-Abadiyah Hills resort in Bhamdoun, a KWD 43 million master-planned development which includes villas, condominiums, and Kempinski Resort.
Most recently, in February of 2011, Mr. Al-Shamlan was appointed to the position of Investment & Acquisitions Manager at KREC, the oldest listed real estate company on the Kuwait Stock Exchange. In his current position, he oversees an overall portfolio with a value of over KWD 190 million that consists of a mix of income producing residential, retail and office assets as well as a significant land bank spanning the Middle East, Europe and North America. Since joining the firm, he has led the expansion of the company’s asset base in mature markets including Europe and the United States in order to counteract the effect of the instability caused by the political upheaval in the Middle East. In this time, Mr. Al-Shamlan has been able to convert previously held, non-performing assets into a portfolio of single tenant retail assets currently yielding an unleveraged return in excess of 7% and which has already seen capital gains in excess of 15%. The company is poised to grow the portfolio in the coming year with the planned acquisition and development of a series of additional properties throughout the US in a variety of sectors.
During Mr. Al-Shamlan’s time as head of the investment and acquisitions department,the company’s market capitalization has more than doubled to over KWD 90 million & its asset base has grown by approximately KWD 20 million in the same time frame.