Sameer al-Ansari, chief executive of Dubai International Capital, places a lot of trust in the human side of his business. He has endeavoured to build the best possible team of advisers around the investment group, owned by Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Mr Ansari told the Financial Times recently he hoped the appointment of leading Hong Kong investor Victor Chu to DIC’s main board would help open up new Asian opportunities as DIC aimed to boost its Asian portfolio from 20 per cent to 30 per cent of its assets. “We all want to be in China, but it’s difficult,” he said.