Kheraj to leave Lazard after just six weeks

By Megan Murphy and Lina Saigol

Published: February 17 2011 11:21 | Last updated: February 17 2011 20:34

Naguib Kheraj, one of the UK’s best-known bankers, is stepping down from Lazard just six weeks after joining as head of the firm’s London-based international business.

The departure raised eyebrows in the City, where Mr Kheraj had been widely tipped as a candidate for senior banking positions before he announced he was joining the investment bank last October.

Mr Kheraj, who has devoted a large chunk of his time to philanthropic endeavours such as the Aga Khan development network throughout his career, said he had misjudged the amount of time he would need to devote to client work and did not want to sacrifice his not-for-profit interests.

“I am very sad to be leaving Lazard and have not taken this decision lightly,” Mr Kheraj said. “I underestimated the difficulty of managing my external activities in a way that would enable me to be properly engaged in an executive role and have realised that it is not possible to fulfil my responsibilities to Lazard to the best of my ability whilst maintaining my personal commitments.”

Before taking up the newly created post of head of Lazard International in January, Mr Kheraj was known more as a strong business manager than as a senior dealmaker. His past roles have included chief executive of JPMorgan Cazenove, before JPMorgan acquired the remainder of the corporate broker, and Barclays finance director.

Lazard International is not a standalone business, but rather group of senior bankers who focus on cross-border and international clients, advising large corporates, financial institutions and sovereign wealth funds.

“Naguib perhaps underestimated the commitment it takes at Lazard to generate revenues to gain credibility,” one senior London-based corporate financier at the bank said.

Mr Kheraj was brought into Lazard by Jeffery Rosen, deputy chairman, who he met in 2009 when Mr Rosen was part of the team advising Barclays on the $13.5bn sale of Barclays Global Investors to BlackRock.

This was in part to fill a void left by John Hack, one of Lazard’s key advisers to financial institutions, who left the bank two years ago to become a partner at Clive Cowdery’s investment vehicle Resolution.

Lazard had hoped that Mr Kheraj’s relationships in Europe would help win big mandates among financial institutions. At JPMorgan Cazenove, Mr Kheraj was a key member of the team of bankers helping Alistair Darling, then chancellor of the exchequer, who structured the bail-out of the UK banking system at the height of the financial crisis in October 2008.

Lazard said Naguib Kheraj was leaving to concentrate on his philanthropic activities