Ashmore appoints Sfakianakis regional director for GCC

DUBAI, Sept 29 (Reuters) - London-based fund manager Ashmore Group Plc has hired prominent investment strategist John Sfakianakis to establish its first Middle East office in Riyadh, months before Saudi Arabia opens its stock market to direct foreign investment.

Sfakianakis was appointed to the new post of regional director for the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

He is expected to manage Ashmore's plans to invest international and Gulf money in regional markets. The company had $75 billion of assets under management globally at the end of June.

The choice of Riyadh for a regional office is unusual among international financial firms, which tend to choose Dubai or Qatar.

But foreign investor interest in Saudi Arabia has surged since regulators announced in July that they would open the stock market, the Arab world's biggest, to direct foreign investment early next year.

In May this year, the United Arab Emirates and Dubai were upgraded to emerging market status by index compiler MSCI (NYSE: MSCI - news) , part of the emergence of the Gulf as a mainstream portfolio investment destination over the past year.

Until earlier this year Sfakianakis was chief investment strategist at MASIC, a Saudi investment company. He has also served as advisor to Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Finance and chief economist at various banks in the kingdom. (Reporting by Andrew Torchia)