Goldman Sachs to Relocate Dubai Banker Mazen Makarem to New York

(Bloomberg) -- Mazen Makarem, a senior banker with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in Dubai, is relocating to New York to cover private equity firms, sovereign wealth funds and family offices.

Makarem, a managing director who joined the investment bank almost 8 years ago and has most recently focused on clients in the Middle East from the Dubai office, will join the Financial and Strategic Investors Group, according to a spokesman for the firm.

Goldman Sachs is among major Wall Street firms that are stepping up their courtship of retirement funds and other large pools of money to push trading, investments and acquisitions through their banks. That's partly because historically low interest rates are driving pension plans, endowments and sovereign-wealth funds to boost direct investments in a quest for higher returns, offering more opportunities for banks to act as the middle men in transactions.

Makarem had previously worked for Merrill Lynch & Co. for almost a decade, gaining experience in telecom and media investment banking and in private equity. He has Master's degrees from George Washington University and Columbia University.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dinesh Nair in London at dnair5@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Aaron Kirchfeld at akirchfeld@bloomberg.net, Chitra Somayaji

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