Best face forward

Dubai International Capital (DIC) has created the role of managing director of corporate communications for a London-based PR veteran.
DIC announced that the firm appointed Mark Lunn as its first managing director of corporate communications. Lunn joins the Dubai-based firm from the London office of Gavin Anderson & Co., the global PR consultancy, where he was he was responsible for an international client portfolio and responsible for the Middle East.
He will be based in the firm’s Dubai headquarters.
Lunn explained that from the firm’s inception in 2004 the team knew the value of transparency, but over time, the communications effort grew more complex with larger funds and a broader geographic spread, demanding a dedicated professional. “They realized they needed someone dedicated to sharing our story with all our stakeholders,” said Lunn.
Lunn will be focused on several key audiences which include the media, the investee companies, the growing number of third-party investors in DIC’s six funds and the firm’s own employees. “Our team is slated to grow quickly in the coming year, both in terms of sheer number and a new office in New York,” said Lunn. “It becomes all the more important to communicate to your internal audience when they’re spread across the UK, the United States and the Middle East.” He cited ambitions for DIC to add another thirty or forty professionals, including many at a senior management level, by the end of the year.
Lunn will be responsible for the communications of all the various branches of DIC, which include a private equity arm, an asset management team, an emerging markets team, a public equities operation, and the chairman’s office. The firm’s investor relations are largely informal- managed by the partners themselves, but Lunn admits over the long term, there will be the need to formalize the IR function as well.
While at Gavin Anderson, Lunn advised a number of global financial clients in the UK and the Gulf on corporate reputation, media relations and public affairs as well as strategic advice on individual transactions. Prior to that, Lunn spent 10 years in advertising, principally with WPP, in roles based in London, China and Japan.
“Mark has the experience and skills to help us build on the positive reputation of DIC and communicate our strategy to our stakeholders as we expand our operations and investments around the world,” Sameer Al Ansari, executive chairman of the firm, said in a statement announcing the appointment.