Dr Khouzeima Moutanabbir wants to help expand AIFMRM’s impact

Originally from Morocco, Dr Moutanabbir has studied and worked in Canada, taught in Egypt, as well as in Johannesburg in South Africa. But from the moment he joined AIFMRM, he recognised there something different about the Institute. Something special. 

Seventeen years ago, Dr Khouzeima Moutanabbir left Morocco. Since then, he’s had seven years in Canada, where he completed his doctorate, performed research and taught; another seven in Egypt at the American University in Cairo; and in 2020, he moved to South Africa, where for three years he lectured and researched at the University of Johannesburg.

And now, for the last eighteen months, he’s been at AIFMRM. Smiling, Khouzeima says, “I’ve felt settled since day one. It’s very enriching to be part of something that is well-established but still responsive to new ideas, ways of teaching, research, and cooperation with the industry. There’s not only room for me to grow in this project, but a way to contribute to the growth of the project itself. This is different. I really like it.”

It's an important thing to feel, especially considering that Khouzeima has become extremely familiar with academia. Still, the challenges he faces at AIFMRM or in Cape Town are refreshing and exciting. “Well,” he concedes, laughing, “except for Home Affairs. But I can teach the same subject twice in a day, and it’s always just as interesting.”

That, he says, is a testament to the quality of the students. They come from a range of academic backgrounds and bring with them varying approaches to solving problems. As such, it’s Khouzeima’s work to mediate these different approaches to mathematics – but that is part of what keeps teaching appealing, the necessity of being ever-present in a classroom such as this.

Outside of teaching, Khouzeima’s been enjoying performing research into new fields. His background is in actuarial science, and previously, his research has focused on capital allocation and insurance, portfolio theory, and option pricing. But now, alongside Dr Coetzee Marais – who is himself a recent AIFMRM appointment with a background in actuarial science, too – Khouzeima’s been at work on a South African climate index.

“I feel lucky to have this exposure to academics with different viewpoints and experiences,” he says. “It’s a privilege to work in a place like Cape Town, too, which itself provides an interesting perspective into academia and the financial industry. It’s also exciting to show the mainstream academic world that universities in Africa can produce highly qualified graduates and some really innovative research ideas as well.”

And Khouzeima is certainly working toward that contribution – and more. His vision for AIFMRM is that it expands its impact outside of South Africa and builds a reputation and networks of researchers and graduates on the continent of Africa, and internationally too.

“AIFMRM is a role model for how to build independence within the academic sphere and also of how to maintain academic freedom in a world where these things are increasingly threatened. We interact with banks and industry to educate ourselves and bring ideas into our field to reshape the way we think about the whole medium and long term,” he says.

To be a part of AIFMRM, the close-knit staff, and to live in Cape Town with its mountains, beaches, and forests, is the sort of solid, lively foundation he and his wife would like to keep as they raise their young daughter. There has certainly been a lot of moving over the last 17 years, but now Khouzeima has settled in a place he’d like to stay.