Meet Our Team

Danny Lubert's vast experience of major global property markets and aptitude for detecting opportunities in key emerging markets has proven key to The First Group’s growth to date. Under his guidance, the group of companies has expanded its presence in major markets including the United Kingdom, Spain, Cyprus, South East Asia, West Africa, CIS countries, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. With a background in commerce and mathematics, Danny Lubert specialises in financial structuring, acquisition and marketing.

Having spent more than 30 years in leadership roles for some of the world’s most-respected hospitality real estate developers, Rob is one of the foremost industry leaders in real estate development and hospitality.

The American national has called the city of Dubai home since 2008. Since then, he has led the rapid growth of the dynamic, integrated property developer The First Group, firstly as Chief Marketing Officer before being promoted to Chief Operating Officer in 2009, and to Chief Executive Officer - a position he has held since 2017. Rob also serves as Chairman of the Board.

In his current role, Rob has overseen The First Group’s impressive growth and development strategy, which has seen it successfully forge a path into key hospitality vertical markets including upscale hotels, leisure venues, F&B, property asset management and bespoke corporate VIP services.

The First Group’s multinational leadership team has developed 18 towers in Dubai as of 2024, including the company’s flagship project, Ciel – the world’s tallest hotel – in the heart of Dubai Marina.

Rob is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University, where he studied Hotel Restaurant and Institutional Management.

Rashad is a seasoned executive with over 25 years of experience in finance, investment banking, and operations, with an expansive career spanning both the United States and UAE.

Before moving to Dubai, Rashad held several pivotal roles in New York and Atlanta. Rashad then joined the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and from there went on to join the DIFX where he played an integral part in the launch of the DIFX, demonstrating his capability to navigate and innovate within complex financial landscapes. His journey continued through notable positions at various investment firms, honing his expertise in navigating both the public and private sector.

Joining The First Group in 2009, initially as Chief Investment Officer, Rashad quickly became a keystone of the company’s financial and commercial expansion. His promotion to Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer in 2017 marked the culmination of years of dedicated service. Under his stewardship and business acumen, Rashad has been instrumental in the development of the group’s real estate portfolio and expansion of the group’s multifaceted hospitality and asset management business, which underscores Rashad’s commitment and his critical contribution to the group’s success.

Mr. Talal Al-Bahar has c. 25 years of experience in international financial and Real Estate investment and development sectors.

Locally, Mr. Al-Bahar is the Vice Chairman of IFA Hotels & Resorts (“IFAHR”), the Vice Chairman and CEO of Kuwait Real Estate Company (“AQARAT”), the Chairman of Arzan Financial Group (“Arzan”). He is also a Board Member of Commercial Real Estate Co. (Al-Tijaria), and Board Member of Boursa Kuwait (“Boursa”).

Internationally, he chairs United Investments (Portugal) and Yotel Limited (UK). He also serves on the Board of Directors Miami International Securities Exchange-MIAX (USA) and Miami International Holding (USA)

He is the joint venture partner of RCI Middle East with Wyndham.

He is a partner of the YOTEL hotel group with Starwood.

Previously, Mr. Al-Bahar served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of International Financial Advisors, Chairman and Managing Director of Kuwait Invest Holding, Jeezan Holding and Al-Deera Holding Company and Board Member of 1st Takaful Insurance Company

Carlos Leal is the General Manager of United Investment Portugal (UIP), spearheading the company’s overall strategy and operations in Europe and abroad. Founded in 1985, UIP is one of Portugal's leading real estate developers, focusing on master plan developments, integrated resorts, and hospitality. The company owns and operates Pine Cliffs Resort in the Algarve and the Sheraton Cascais Resort in Lisbon. Before joining UIP in 1999, Carlos held several positions within the Murray & Roberts Group and Nedcor Group in South Africa. 

Carlos is also the CEO of IFA Asset Management and a Board Member of various group companies, including Yotel Hotel Management Company, and is Executive Chairman of UHM.

Carlos’ experience spans over thirty years, including vast international knowledge and expertise in major leisure industry projects’ investment, development, project and asset management. Carlos is a qualified Quantity Surveyor with post-graduate credentials in Management and Business Administration.

Mr. Al-Halabi has over 28 years of experience in the field of executive management. He is involved in the real estate and leisure industry in the region. He has been the Group Chief Investment Officer of Meraas Holding, a leading UAE based developer where he was responsible for the group's capital markets, investments, funding and finance functions. He has also been the Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Properties and held various senior positions within the Dubai Holding group focusing on their development and leisure businesses.  He started his career with KPMG in London working on debt advisory services & restructuring, and for two years was a partner at KPMG Dubai co-heading the transaction and restructuring unit in the UAE and Oman.

Mr. Al-Halabi sits on the board of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, is the Vice Chairman of Union Properties PJSC (both listed entities) and the regional board of Houlihan Lokey, one of the world’s leading financial advisory firms. 

Mr. Al-Halabi was the Chairman of DXB Entertainments, a DFM listed entity.  He has also been on the board of Global Investment House PJSC for four years where he also acted as CEO for two years. He was previously on several boards including Emirates REIT Management which managed Emirates REIT, a NASDAQ Dubai listed entity, Plant Pharmacy LLC and several other private enterprises.

Mr. Al-Halabi holds a degree in Economics from London School of Economics and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales

Esteban Buljevich is the Vice Chairman of Rothschild & Co for the MENA region. He specialises in global debt restructuring, cross-border bankruptcy, business reorganization and turnarounds, distressed assets and special opportunities, and corporate and project finance. Before joining Rothschild & Co., he worked at ADCB and held many leadership positions at IFC/World Bank and practiced banking law at Skadden, Arps, et al.

Mr. Buljevich is a seasoned investment banker with a dual financial and legal background and has more than 35 years of professional experience. Throughout his extensive career, he has been involved in complicated, cross-border restructuring deals in Latin America, MENA, Eastern Europe, and Asia. He was at the centre of the Asian, Russian, and Argentine financial crises of the late 1990s and early 2000s.  He is the author of two best-selling publications- "Cross-border Debt Restructurings" by Euromoney Books and "Project Financing and the International Financial Markets" by Kluwer Academics. He is the MENA area anchor representative of the INSOL International Financiers' Group.

Mr. Buljevich has graduate and post-graduate degrees in law from the University of Buenos Aires and Georgetown University and business administration and finance from L'École des Ponts et Chaussees and NYU. He is admitted to the New York and US Supreme Court bars.

Shafraz’s vast international experience working for enterprise technology giants including HP and Infosys has proven a real asset in his role as Senior Vice President of Technology.
Having joined The First Group in 2014 as Director of CRM, Shafraz was promoted to Director of IT two years later, with the mission of helping shape the firm’s digital strategy for the coming decade. His success in this challenging role was rewarded with a promotion to Vice President of Technology in 2019. Recognized again for his exceptional leadership and results, he was promoted to his current position as Senior Vice President of Technology in 2022.

Born and raised in Australia, Shafraz developed his career in technology in neighbouring New Zealand, where he worked as a senior consultant for IT firms Business Mechanix and Gen-I, before joining industry giant Infosys as a lead consultant in 2011.

In 2013, he was headhunted by rival HP for the role of Lead Architect – NZ for Microsoft Dynamics Practice – a high-profile position that provided the perfect launching point for his career with The First Group.

Shafraz holds a number of academic qualifications, including a Certificate of Completion in Disruptive Strategy from the highly respected Harvard Business School (USA).

Tereza Gabrou is a dynamic sales leader with more than a decade of proven success in Dubai’s fast-paced property investment market. As Vice President of Sales at The First Group, she leads a highly experienced team dedicated to helping clients from across the world capitalise on the company’s rapidly expanding hotel investment portfolio. Known for her strategic insight and client-first approach, Tereza combines sharp commercial acumen with an unwavering commitment to service excellence, consistently delivering outstanding results for both investors and The First Group. Since joining the firm in 2012 as a Property Consultant, Tereza has steadily risen through the ranks, taking on increasingly strategic roles including Director of Sales for Europe, Africa, South Asia, and MENA. Her international experience and ability to manage multicultural teams have played a pivotal role in expanding the company’s reach in key growth markets. Tereza, who boasts an MSc in International Finance from the University of Roehampton and a BS in Accounting and Finance from the American University of Sharjah, is fluent in Arabic, English and French.

Marco Cominelli brings exceptional commercial insight and leadership to his role as Vice President of Product & Business Development at The First Group. In this role, he drives strategic growth and innovation across the firm’s rapidly expanding real estate and hospitality portfolio.

Since joining The First Group in 2019, Marco has held several senior roles, including Director of Certificates and Senior Director of Product & Business Development.
Promoted to his current role as Vice President in 2024, Marco leads a dynamic team committed to driving product innovation, enhancing business offerings and improving client experiences.

For the past 16 years, Nadia Darif has played a key role in developing one of The First Group’s most dynamic and results-driven departments. As Vice President of Telesales for Dubai and Cairo, Nadia leads high-performing multicultural teams across two key regional hubs, driving revenue growth through expertly crafted telesales strategies and client engagement programmes. Nadia joined The First Group in 2008 as a Telesales Consultant and has risen steadily through the ranks thanks to her relentless drive, deep understanding of customer demands and ability to consistently deliver results. Her career trajectory has seen her take on a series of progressively senior roles, from Telesales Manager for Africa to Director of Telesales – MENA, and ultimately, Senior Director of Telesales prior to her appointment as Vice President in 2025. Throughout her career, Nadia has been recognised for her ability to build, inspire and empower sales teams to meet and exceed ambitious targets. She is known for her hands-on leadership style, data-driven approach, and unwavering focus on performance optimisation across diverse markets. With an in-depth knowledge of regional buying trends and a passion for nurturing talent, Nadia continues to play a key role in strengthening The First Group’s sales infrastructure and expanding its investor base across the Middle East and North Africa.

With more than 15 years’ senior management experience across the real estate, engineering and automotive industries, Sean Oliver McSherry brings valuable expertise to his role as Vice President of Talent Optimisation at The First Group.

Since joining the firm in 2011 as a Sales Manager, Sean has earned multiple awards for outstanding performance and achieved the highest individual sales volume in 2013. His success in sales paved the way for his transition into recruitment and talent leadership, where he has played a key role in transforming the company’s approach to workforce planning and talent acquisition.

Under Sean’s leadership, The First Group has adopted AI-powered recruitment systems and introduced skills-based hiring practices to identify and recruit top talent. Sean has also led the launch of university partnerships and early-career development programmes, building a strong future talent pipeline and reinforcing the firm’s reputation as one of the industry’s most forward-thinking and respected employers.

Sean holds an engineering degree from Dublin Institute of Technology and an MBA in Management from Manchester Business School, UK.

With a proven knack for identifying high-level real estate investment opportunities in Dubai on behalf of major corporate investment firms and associated advisories, Jeffrey Edoman brings a wealth of experience to his role as Vice President of Corporate Finance at The First Group. Jeffrey focuses specifically on capital structure management and analysing and developing new and existing business lines and products to maximise value for the firm. Prior to joining The First Group in 2018, Jeffrey was employed as Associate Vice President – Asset Management for Investbridge Capital, based in Dubai. In this role, he focused specifically on identifying key investment opportunities in the emirate’s thriving real estate sector. Jeffrey also spent four years working for global advisory PwC, where he was employed as a Senior Associate in the Transaction Services team. Jeffrey holds a degree in Economics from the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom and is also a chartered accountant.

Josephine Croke is a direct sales specialist with more than 20 years’ experience in the real estate sector and a strong track record in leading successful and productive sales teams. Since joining The First Group in 2008 as Training Manager and Team Manager for the firm’s promotional venue department, Josephine’s career has gone from strength to strength.

Having initially led a team that quickly surpassed its sales targets, she was soon promoted to Head of The First Group’s Promotional Venue Department in the UAE. In this role, Josephine negotiated favourable contracts with five-star hotels and retail outlets. As VP of Promotional Venues for the UAE, Josephine has helped The First Group expand its presence in key growth markets including Russia, Kazakhstan, India and Nigeria, through her development of regional promotional venue programmes targeting clients in each country. Josephine is a British national who describes herself as “target driven, ambitious and a natural leader”; a work ethic that has paid dividends for The First Group.

As Vice President of Owner Relations at The First Group, Waleed AbuLeil plays a pivotal role in enhancing client satisfaction, honing the firm’s investor communications strategy in key growth markets. His leadership is defined by strategic thinking, meticulous attention to detail and an unwavering commitment to building long-term trust with clients from more than 100 countries worldwide.

Since joining The First Group in 2016, Waleed has been instrumental in shaping and expanding the company’s Owner Relations division. His promotion to Vice President in 2022 followed six years of impactful work as Director of Owner Relations. Prior to joining The First Group, Waleed spent more than 15 years at Marriott Vacation Club International, based in the UAE. Waleed holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Atlanta.

With nearly 20 years’ experience in high-end interior design, Nadine Atta brings exceptional creative and technical expertise to her role as Vice President of Design at The First Group. She oversees the design and execution of the company’s growing portfolio of hotel and mixed-use developments, managing projects from initial spatial planning and concept design through to budgeting and fit-out delivery, while coordinating with contractors, consultants and clients. Since joining The First Group in 2008, Nadine has earned praise for her creative vision and practical execution on major design projects. Her architectural background gives her a strong grasp of form, function and flow, while her design instincts and trend-savvy approach ensure every project is both distinctive and future-focused. Renowned for her attention to detail, collaborative leadership style and ability to deliver complex projects on time and on budget, Nadine plays a pivotal role in shaping the design direction of The First Group’s hospitality ventures. She holds a BSc in Architecture from the University of Technology in Baghdad and is fluent in both English and Arabic.

Kahtan Kannan, Vice President of Vacation Ownership

With more than two decades of experience in vacation ownership and hospitality sales, Kahtan Kannan brings a wealth of industry knowledge and leadership expertise to his role as Vice President of Vacation Ownership at The First Group.

Kahtan joined the firm in August 2023 as Director of Sales, where he was tasked with overseeing the daily operations of the Vacation Ownership unit and implementing strategies to expand and enhance the business. In this role, he led talent acquisition and development, identifying and nurturing the company’s next generation of leaders, while evolving the Vacation Ownership business model to capitalise on emerging market trends.

His promotion to the role of Vice President in 2025 is testament to his success in building high-performing teams and delivering strong commercial results. A seasoned leader with vast international experience spanning Australia, Thailand and the UAE, Kahtan has previously held senior roles with Anantara Vacation Club and Wyndham Destinations, managing multi-million-dollar projects and driving operational excellence across multiple sites.

Kahtan has a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Finance, both from the University of Delaware, USA.