The Financial Academy celebrated the graduation of the first cohort of the Saudi Elite Graduate Program in Asset Management, delivered in partnership with State Street, with the aim of developing highly qualified Saudi talent in asset management by combining local market knowledge with global expertise and hands-on training.

The ceremony honored eight graduates, selected from more than 500 applicants. The graduates are: Abdullah Fareed Mohammed Sulaih, Mubarak Mohammed Adi Al-Dosari, Talal Abdullah Hussain Al-Qahtani, Abdullah Mohammed Abdullah Al-Bunyan, Meshari Mohammed Mufreh Al-Surai, Hala Ayman Taher, Alanoud Waleed Al-Halwan, and Badr Mohammed Shabab Al-Buqami. Over the course of an intensive three-month journey, participants progressed from professional and regulatory training in Saudi Arabia to practical training at State Street’s offices in London. The program was designed to transform theoretical knowledge into practical expertise and prepare participants for careers in asset management within leading global institutions.

The program consisted of three integrated phases. It began with the “Elite Development” phase, focusing on professional conduct, executive presence, and leadership skills. The second phase, “Regulatory Readiness and Institutional Sustainability,” deepened participants’ understanding of regulations, governance, compliance, and risk management. The final phase, “Professional Asset Management,” provided immersive practical training and real-world application.

During the international training phase in London, participants gained hands-on experience across several of State Street’s business areas, including trading and markets, global operations, custody services, transition management, fixed income, quantitative modeling, systematic strategies, capital markets, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Working within multidisciplinary teams, participants experienced institutional workflows, learned global best practices, and applied technical knowledge related to portfolio management, asset allocation, and investment analysis in a real-world environment.

The program is one of the outcomes of the Financial Academy Forum 2025, during which six strategic initiatives and ten partnership agreements with leading local and international institutions were launched to advance human capital development in the financial sector.

The program focuses on developing a comprehensive set of technical and behavioral competencies, including career readiness, professional and leadership presence, high-performance teamwork, the practical application of technical concepts, and the ability to operate with a global institutional mindset while understanding the principles of governance, compliance, and risk management in investment practices.

The graduation of the first cohort marks the program’s transition from launch to tangible impact, contributing to the development of a highly qualified pool of Saudi asset management professionals. It strengthens graduates’ readiness to support the growth of the financial sector and meet its future workforce needs, in line with the Financial Academy’s mission to develop and empower human capital in Saudi Arabia’s financial sector.