Junaid Iqbal

Some Lesser Known Facts About Junaid Iqbal

• Junaid Iqbal grew up in Karachi, Pakistan.

• Junaid attended The Lyceum School (1996-1998), where he studied GCE A-Level with a focus on Economics.

• During his time at school, he was actively involved in extracurricular activities and served as the president of a non-profit organisation named Amnesty International and Photography Club. He was also a member of the editorial board of the school magazine and participated in the cricket and basketball teams.

• Junaid served as the vice president of the non-profit organisation AIESEC while studying at the University of Michigan (1998-2002).

• Iqbal worked as a power trader and energy analyst at American Electric Power from June 2002 to May 2004. There, he analysed natural gas and coal markets, traded power in the ERCOT region, and created models to predict power prices. He also improved the use of an 8,000-megawatt power system with nuclear, coal, and gas plants.

• Junaid worked as an anchor, producer, and market analyst at Geo TV from May 2004 to June 2005, where he helped create and host Pakistan’s first daily stock market show, Tezi Mandee, and provided insights on finance and policies.

• Junaid served as the head of research and official spokesperson at the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) from July 2005 to December 2005. During his tenure, he represented SECP at the National Assembly and Senate committees on finance and established its first in-house analytics division.

• Iqbal worked as an anchor and head of research at CNBC Pakistan from December 2005 to July 2007. He launched the show ‘Power Lunch,’ led the research team, and interviewed key leaders like Muhammad Yunus, an economist, entrepreneur, and politician.

• Junaid joined BMA Financial Services Limited as CEO in October 2007. He served in this position till November 2011.

• At BMA Financial Services Limited, he launched Pakistan’s first independent platform for mutual funds, stocks, and other financial products. He also raised Rs. 7 billion through sales, developed tools to simplify client investments, and introduced a quarterly publication on mutual funds.

• Junaid joined BMA Capital Management Ltd. as an associate director and head of retail and commodity brokerage in Karachi in November 2010. He served in this position till November 2011.

• Junaid joined Elixir Securities as the chief executive officer in December 2011 and served till May 2015. He led a major turnaround by delivering a 2.6x return for shareholders and expanding the corporate finance division, including managing Pakistan’s $1.02 billion sale of HBL Bank shares. He also grew the company’s client base by over 100% and tripled revenue.

• Junaid served as the managing director of Careem in Pakistan from October 2015 to August 2019. At Careem, he also served as managing director for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from October 2017 to August 2019. He worked as the managing director for Careem Pay from August 2019 to August 2020.

  

• Junaid has been the chairman of a music, art, and entertainment agency named Salt Arts in Dubai since September 2015. He has led the agency in promoting artists, organising events, and encouraging cultural exchange through music and creative expression.

  

• In 2016, he was featured in H! Pakistan’s Hot 100 Innovators list.

  

• He has been a partner at Mentors Fund in San Francisco, California, since 2018.

• Junaid has been a member of the board of advisors at Lean Technologies in Dubai since February 2020.

• In December 2021, he founded Salt Ventures in Dubai and has been serving as its CEO since then. The firm focuses on early-stage investments in areas like open banking, retail automation, women’s health, logistics, construction tech, and travel tech.

• In 2024, Junaid appeared as one of the judges on the business reality television series ‘Shark Tank Pakistan,’ which aired on Green TV.

  

• He is an avid traveller and often shares his travel experiences on social media.

  

• Junaid has a passion for music. He frequently attends gigs and concerts and shares his experiences on social media.

  

• Junaid Iqbal is adventurous and often enjoys engaging in activities like kayaking and bungee jumping. He also likes fishing in his leisure time.

  

• Junaid runs a YouTube channel called ‘Pakistan&Counting,’ where he discusses Pakistan’s economy, its challenges, and future potential.