Askar Alshinbayev is a Founding Partner of Meridian Capital Limited, overseeing the investment management of its diversified portfolio in real estate, hospitality, FMCG, infrastructure and natural resources. Mr. Alshinbayev graduated with a first-class degree (Red Diploma) in Operational Management (Computer Control Systems) from the Technical Science Institute in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and held a research post at the Institute’s Technical Cybernetics Laboratory. Mr. Alshinbayev holds over three decades of investment management experience in specialized corporate strategy, M&A, and strategic acquisitions, with a focus on investing in global, emerging and frontier markets. He served as a Managing Director of Kazkommertsbank from 1994 to 2002. He was (among other directorships) a Board Member of Unimilk from 2006 to 2010 and was central to its development into what became the number two dairy company in the CIS and thereafter its merger with Danone. After Meridian Capital Limited exited the Danone-Unimilk joint venture, Mr. Alshinbayev spearheaded Meridian Capital’s further investment into the high-growth FMCG industry and held a Board Member role at Food Union. Since it was established in Latvia in 2012, Food Union has become one of the largest dairy and ice-cream producing companies in Central and Eastern Europe, and recently expanded into dairy production in China. In early 2024, Food Union successfully spun-off of its Chinese operations, resulting in Food Union China becoming an independent group and Meridian Capital Limited has focused their investment on China’s growth potential. Alongside a range of investments in real estate and hospitality, Mr. Alshinbayev has led Meridian Capital’s partnership with Extell, one of New York’s leading property developers, which has brought to market the International Gem Tower in the heart of New York’s Diamond District.