Lazard, Inc. announced that Ali Syed has joined the firm as Managing Director and Head of Sovereign and Pension Fund Coverage. Based in New York, Mr. Syed will lead the firm?s efforts to advise global sovereign and pension funds. He will collaborate closely with Wassim Al Khatib, CEO of Financial Advisory for the MENA region, and Sarah Al Suhaimi, Chair of Financial Advisory in MENA.

Mr. Syed joins Lazard as it continues to attract best-in-class talent and seeks to ramp up its presence in private capital. The firm launched Lazard Capital Solutions in 2023 and recently hired Adam Cady as the Head of Large-Cap Financial Sponsor Coverage in North America. Mr. Syed joins Lazard from Citigroup, Inc., where he served as Managing Director and Head of Sovereign Wealth Fund and Pension Fund Advisory.

He was previously based in Riyadh with Saudi Arabia-based Samba Financial Group, where he was part of the firm?s principal direct investments and private equity team. Before Samba, he worked as an Investment Analyst at Vestry Capital Management. Mr. Syed graduated with distinction from the University of Michigan.