Over the past two decades, Furqan Athar has been instrumental in the management, as well as the financial and administrative strategic planning of some of the most successful shopping centres and mixed-use developments in the Middle East and Asia. Furqan began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG before taking on management positions with Dubai-based developers Majid Al Futtaim Shopping Centres and Al-Futtaim Group Real Estate. In 2006, Athar founded Retail Solutions, an investment management and advisory firm based in Dubai. He is also Managing Director of Spret Retail, a multinational retailing company with various locations across the Middle East. In 2011, Athar became a partner at McARTHUR + COMPANY. As director of strategic planning and finance, he leads the team on various assignments throughout the Middle East, North America and Asia. He has extensive experience in all aspects of the shopping centre industry, more specifically in investment management and value creation.