Wafra Investment Advisory Group, Inc. (New York)


Wafra Investment Advisory Group, Inc. is a large advisory firm based in New York. It manages $15.3 billion of regulatory assets for 63 client accounts. It has been registered with the SEC as an adviser since 2001 and has operated in the jurisdiction of Texas.

Wafra Investment Advisory Group provides portfolio management for pooled investment vehicles, portfolio management for businesses and institutional clients, pension consulting services, selection of other advisers, and consulting review of 3rd party managers for institutional investors. It doesn't provide financial planning services to its clients. On top of advisory services, the firm doesn't engage in other business activities.

Wafra Investment Advisory Group: assets under management

The assets under management (AUM) of Wafra Investment Advisory Group, Inc. is $15.3 billion. The firm's AUM has grown by 398% since the beginning of its operation, and $15.17 billion of the total AUM is attributable to clients outside of the United States.

The firm manages $13.4 billion in discretionary accounts and $1.9 billion in non-discretionary accounts. On average, the discretionary accounts where all decisions are made on behalf of the client hold $285.08 million each. Non-discretionary accounts, where clients actively manage their portfolios, generally hold around $118.66 million.
Wafra Investment Advisory Group has custody of $11.24 billion in cash and securities for 64 clients in total but doesn’t act as a qualified custodian.

Investments

The firm invests in exchange traded securities the most. They account for 65% of the total AUM. The second-largest asset type is cash and cash equivalents, which make up 12% of the firm’s portfolio. Investments in sovereign bonds form 8% of the total invested assets.

Fees & Commissions

The advisory firm has several streams of revenue. Clients pay Wafra Investment Advisory Group, Inc. for their services and products based on a percentage of assets under management, fixed fees, and performance-based fees. The adviser charges an additional fee when a set benchmark is outperformed. These fees don’t include brokerage commissions, interest, taxes, and other account expenses.

What kind of clients Fawaz Mansour Almubaraki serves?

The firm provides services to pooled investment vehicles and corporations or other businesses. The largest group of clients of Fawaz Mansour Almubaraki is pooled investment vehicles with 36 clients and $8.77 billion of assets under management. Among the 11 most similar advisory firms, Wafra Investment Advisory Group has the 5th lowest percentage of pooled investment vehicles out of all clients.

The amount of regulatory assets under management is $11.13 billion for 53 clients. 99% of the firm’s clients are foreign persons or businesses.

Wafra Investment Advisory Group also advises several private funds. Namely, ten private equity funds. The minimum investment commitment required of non-related persons ranges from $1,000,000 to $10,000,000.

Careers at Wafra Investment Advisory Group, Inc.

The company employs 126 people that are either part- or full-time employees. 50 percent of the employees work as investment advisers or researchers. No employees are registered as investment adviser representatives with the state securities authorities.

There isn’t anyone with the role of looking for and bringing in new clients on behalf of the firm. The firm compensates employees in addition to the salary for bringing in new clients. Employees don’t receive compensation from other entities for client referrals.

Fawaz Mansour Almubaraki has been acting as President since 1 Jul 2017. Fawaz M Almubaraki has served as the Chief Investment Officer since 1 Jun 2014. Fergus Healy joined the executive team most recently as the Director/Chief Administrative Officer/Senior Managing Director Legal.

Direct owners and executive officers


Name Entity Date acquired Ownership Employer ID
Wafra Intervest Corporation (Wic) Wholly owns applicant 1 Jul 1984 75% - 100% 00-0000000
Mohamad Wafic Khouja Director / chairman / chief executive officer 1 Dec 1986 Other 1526685
Fahad Maziad Alrajan Chairman 1 Dec 1986 Other 1526675
Majed Essa Alajeel Director 1 Dec 1986 Other 1526682
Hamad Alhumaidhi Deputy chairman 1 Nov 1990 Other 2609028
Anthony Gerard Barbuto Director / chief financial officer, treasurer and secretary 1 Jan 1993 Other 1935030
Anthony G Barbuto Chief financial officer 1 Jan 1993 Other 1935030
Vincent Paul Campagna Chief compliance officer/ chief operating officer 1 Dec 1993 Other 2667476
Abdullah J Alsabah Director 1 Oct 1998 Other 3167855
Abdullah Jaber Alsabah Director 1 Oct 1998 Other 3167855
Fawaz Mansour Almubaraki Chief investment officer 1 Jun 2014 Other 3002494
Fawaz M Almubaraki Chief investment officer 1 Jun 2014 Other 3002494
Fergus Healy Chief legal officer/chief administrative officer 1 Mar 2017 Other 6205643
Jeanine Macfadyen Chief financial officer/senior managing director 1 May 2017 Other 2984603
Fawaz Mansour Almubaraki Chairman/director//chief executive officer/chief investment officer 1 Jul 2017 Other 3002494
Fergus Healy Director/chief administrative officer/senior managing director- legal 1 Aug 2017 Other 6205643
Russell James Valdez Director/senior managing director 1 Aug 2017 Other 6848498

Indirect Owners

The SEC currently registers 2 indirect owners.

Name Entity Date acquired Ownership Employer ID
The Public Institution For Social Security (Pifss) 95.5% owner of wic 1 Jan 1990 75% - 100% 00-0000000
Government Of Kuwait Wholly owns pifss 1 Jan 1990 75% - 100% 00-0000000

Based in New York

The principal office where Wafra Investment Advisory Group, Inc. performs its advisory services is located at 345 Park Avenue 41 St Floor, New York, NY 10154 0101, which is also the mailing address of the firm. An additional office of the firm is in Austin, TX. It doesn’t run an office outside of the United States.

You can reach the main office by calling the phone number 212-759-3700 or by fax 212-813-9488. The normal business hours are 9:00am to 5:30pm on Monday - Friday. You can find more information about the New York firm at wafraalternativeinvestments.com.