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By Regan Doherty and Dinesh Nair
DOHA/DUBAI, July 3 (Reuters) - The new head of Qatar'ssovereign wealth fund, Ahmad al-Sayed, is known and feared as ahard, aggressive negotiator - and his appointment signals thefund's ambitious overseas acquisition plans are likely tocontinue.
Qatar's newly-crowned emir removed former Prime MinisterSheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani as chief executive at QatarInvestment Authority (QIA) on Tuesday, replacing him with Sayed,a lawyer previously in charge of running the fund's investmentarm.
The fund, with estimated assets of $100-$200 billion, hasbeen actively deploying the nation's riches from natural gas inrecent years in a string of high-profile assets ranging fromGerman sports-car maker Porsche to British bankBarclays and Swiss lender Credit Suisse.
A broader transition in the Gulf state saw the emir handover power to his 33-year-old son Sheikh Tamim bin Hamadal-Thani last month. It led to speculation among bankers and theinvestment community that the sovereign fund - widely seen asone of the world's most aggressive investors - may take a morecautious stance.
However, the appointment of Sayed indicates otherwise. Inhis previous job as chief executive of Qatar Holding, heanchored some of the fund's largest overseas investments.
He showed his steel when he went up against Glencore lastyear, when the fund threatened to vote down the commoditiesgiant's acquisition of London miner Xstrata.
YOUNGER GENERATION
Qatar eventually voted in favor of the merger after Glencorechief agreed to raise terms for the deal.
"I think it's a good sign in terms of continuity. HavingAhmad, as well as retaining Hussain al-Abdulla on the board,signals that it's business as usual," said one Doha-based bankerwho works closely with the fund.
"Ahmad doesn't come from a remarkably prominent family. He'sthere on merit."
Sayed, in his late 30s, has strong influence among membersof Qatar's royal family who must sign off on all big decisions.
His elevation to the fund's top role is an indication thatthe new emir is keen to hand over more responsibilities to ayoung generation.
It is also a positive sign those banks and advisory firmsseen as closer to the fund, who will receive more business ifthe fund continues its aggressive investments.
Credit Suisse - in which the fund holds the second-largestownership stake, of 6.2 percent - is widely seen as a preferredchoice for the fund having won several large advisory mandatesin the past.
The fund has also increasingly used boutique advisory firmssuch as Lazard, Evercore Partners and PerellaWeinberg in recent years on big deals.
