Qatar wealth fund hires ex-JPMorgan exec Niall Byrne as CFO

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the Gulf emirate’s $450bn sovereign wealth fund, has hired former JPMorgan Chase & Co. executive Niall Byrne as its chief financial officer.

Byrne, who has nearly 30 years’ experience in the finance industry, joined QIA this month, according to his LinkedIn profile. He previously held positions at JPMorgan including chief operating officer and chief financial officer of global fixed income, currency and commodities at its asset management arm.

QIA has been hiring Wall Street veterans to beef up its senior ranks. It recently hired Gautier Martin-Regnier, a former Morgan Stanley managing director in EMEA equity capital markets, as its global head of capital markets, Bloomberg News reported last month.

Sovereign wealth funds have continued to be active acquirers this year even as global deal volumes fall and banks cut bank lending for acquisitions.

QIA agreed in October to invest €2.4bn ($2.5bn) in RWE to back the German utility’s purchase of US renewable assets. It was also a cornerstone investor in sports car brand Porsche’s IPO and has invested in a string of tech startups.

In recent months, QIA also promoted Mohammed Al-Hardan to become its new head of technology, media and telecom investments, according to his LinkedIn profile. He replaced Sumit Pande, who left the state-owned fund earlier in the year to pursue another opportunity.

A representative for QIA confirmed the appointments.