Despite the tensions of war, ex-Barclays CEO Bob Diamond is long Gulf. Here’s why 

“The region isn’t hiding in their bunker; they’re doing business,” Bob Diamond tells me on a call from Bahrain, where the Gateway Gulf investment conference is taking place. He is talking to Fortune against a backdrop of simmering tensions around the U.S. midterms and the possibility that the President may restart attacks on Iran.  

“I don’t want to be dismissive, there is a war, there is a conflict, whatever term you want to use,” he said. “It’s real, and I’m not going to be dismissive of the impact that’s having on the UAE, on Bahrain, on Qatar. But I will tell you, if you take the time to get here and you’re on the ground, it’s business as usual. The kids are in school. People are working from the office. They’re not hiding at home. They’re doing business. They’re investing.” 

The former CEO of Barclays is in Bahrain to announce that the U.K.-based advisory firm, Panmure Liberum, is opening its first regional office in the kingdom. Diamond’s investment vehicle, Atlas Merchant Capital, bought Panmure Gordon for £15.5m ($21m) in 2017. It agreed an all-share merger with Liberum in 2024. 

Panmure Liberum is now one of the biggest advisors to U.K.-listed companies based on the number of clients, which total more than 250. It specializes in mid-market companies, with valuations below those served by the........

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