QIC Group Management

Salem Al Mannai is the Group CEO of QIC Group. Salem is a postgraduate from the University of South Wales in Wales and he started his career with QIC in 2001, in the motor department. After working for two years in the motor department, Salem was awarded a scholarship to complete his degree in the UK. In 2006, he joined the Marine department of QIC as a Senior Underwriting Officer and was appointed as the Assistant Vice President for Cargo. In 2013, Mr. Mannai assumed the responsibility of the Deputy CEO of QLM. In 2015, Salem was appointed as the Deputy Group President & CEO of QIC MENA region. Basis his wealth of knowledge and experience, in 2019, Salem was assigned the position of Deputy Group President & CEO of the QIC Group. Salem has been instrumental in bringing innovative solutions to cement QIC Group’s position as a pioneer in the insurance industry arena, both in the MENA region and across international markets.

C.M. Unnikrishnan has over 34 years of experience in the insurance industry of which 26 years have been in the Middle East region. He started his career with The New India Assurance Company before relocating to the Middle East in 1994. He joined QIC in 1997 and has played an integral role in growing QIC’s Property & Commercial business in Qatar & in the wider MENA region. An industry veteran, he has amassed significant hands on experience in underwriting, risk management, reinsurance and client management. He is also credited for enhancing and maintaining broker relationships of QIC ’s different entities in the MENA region.

Ahmed joined QIC Group in 2011 and has over nine years of experience in the industry. He has a wide range of knowledge and expertise in Audit, Advisory and Financial services to a broad range of industries. Prior to joining the QIC Group, Ahmed was working with KPMG audit and advisory in Qatar and in Egypt. Ahmed is a qualified Chartered Accountant and a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in the UK. He is also a member of the CFA institute and holds an MBA degree from Oxford Brookes University.

Sultan Ghani has over three decades of experience in the Insurance Industry and is a well-known veteran of the Industry, for many he needs no introduction. In 1998 he joined Qatar Insurance Company and is credited with developing a consistently profitable Marine & Energy Portfolio in the region for past several years. He also worked in Abu Dhabi Insurance Industry and Bahrain Insurance Industry from 1985 to 1998 March. Sultan holds a Diploma in Insurance awarded by the Chartered Insurance Institute (Dip CII), London, UK and also has a Bachelor’s degree in Science from University of Madras, India and a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing Management from University of Madras, India.

Varghese P David is the Group Chief Financial Officer & Executive Vice President of QIC Group. Varghese has over twenty five years of industry experience out of which over twenty years were in the Middle East. Varghese joined QIC Group in 1998 and for the past 17 years has varied experience in finance, internal audit, IT and risk management. Prior to joining QIC Group, Varghese was with Sedgwicks Group in the UAE, a leading insurance broker, which is now part of Marsh. Varghese is a qualified Chartered Accountant and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He is also a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) with the Institute of Internal Auditors, USA and a qualified CISA professional with ISACA, USA.

Saji has been with QIC Group since 2007 and was earlier involved in compliance, internal audit, corporate governance, risk management and internal control related functions. He started his career in general insurance in Mumbai in 1985 with the New India Assurance Co through the Assistant Administration Officer (A/cs & Audit) national selection test. He was also a part of the team that pioneered introduction of credit insurance in the public sector insurance environment in India. Eventually he assumed responsibility for its countrywide operations before relocating to the Middle-East. Saji is a Fellow of the Insurance Institute of India (FIII), a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) from the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), USA and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (FCA).

Haya Al Mana is the Group Chief Administrative Officer of QIC Group. She is a graduate of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Paris Master in Strategic Business Unit Management. Most recently she was with Aspire Foundation and Qatar Foundation, bringing with her many years of major experience in Human Resource, Marketing, Training & Development, Facility Management, Business Support and Communications & Public Relations. She has been awarded an UK Associate Professional from Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Mark was appointed Chief Risk Officer for QIC in January 2016. This new role comprises Group-level responsibility for Risk Management, Exposure Management, Actuarial, Capital Modelling, Compliance and Corporate Governance. At the time of QIC’s acquisition of Antares in 2014 he was Chief Risk Officer and Chief Operating Officer, a position he had held since joining Antares in 2012. Prior to joining Antares, Mark headed his own company, Acuitas Consulting Ltd, which provided strategic and operational advice to insurance businesses in the London market. Mark previously spent ten years working for Chaucer Holdings PLC, a FTSE-250 listed company, initially as Group Actuary and later as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to his time at Chaucer, Mark was Chief Actuary at Ashley Palmer Ltd. He started work in the insurance industry in 1987, having completed a BSc in Geophysics and an MSc in Mining Geology and Mineral Exploration. Mark is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries.

Chirag joined QIC Group in 2004 and has an experience of over 18 years in Treasury & Investment Portfolio Management functions. He has been instrumental in establishing QIC as a leading investment house in the MENA region. Chirag is credited for being one of the early stage portfolio managers in the GCC fixed income space, from the infancy of the market in 2005. Prior to joining QIC, Chirag was with Standard Chartered Bank in Mumbai, India. Chirag is a qualified Chartered Accountant, CFA charter holder and a Certified Treasury Manager.

Lars is the Chief Digital Officer at QIC Group. His role focuses on building QIC Digital Venture Partners -a new digital organization to build and invest in – digital ventures, the InsurTech ecosystem and international partnerships while transforming the way QIC operates digitally.
He comes from Zurich Insurance Group where he was working as a Venture Builder in P&C, Life & Commercial Insurance. He has over 20 years of extensive experience in building & managing digital companies in Insurance, Financing, Leasing, Automotive and Education.
With a passion for new digital business models, platforms & ecosystems, he is also Strategic Advisor to several digital startups.