You make your luck

You are a trader. You talk shares, bonds and treasury bills. You talk cash, lots of it. Millions and billions of it. Who exactly, are you as a trader? I’m an aggressive trader. When I have a clear view, I go for what I’ve set my sights on. In the past, I used to make terrifyingly risky moves. In the past...mmh...like what risky move did you make? I once bought the entire Central Bank of France treasury bills. It started off well, but overnight, the value of the bills fell and I was looking at a trial by fire - I was new at Sumitomo Bank. It was grim. The situation later on got better though. Is that the biggest risk you ever took? Not really. The biggest risk I ever took was at the end of the Gulf War. The oil markets had collapsed and the oil price fell to USD31 a barrel. I mortgaged my house to raise funds so that I could buy crude oil options at USD40 a year. The market was expecting the peace to last. It didn’t and I had foreseen that as a possible outcome. In the next few weeks, I was selling the options that I had bought at ten times the price I had purchased them at. I would never do that again though. You’d never do that again... I’ve changed. In the world we live in today, if you can create intelligence, if you can possess knowledge then you’d know how to go about things without risking too much. I still take risks though, but I do it to get paid. I take risks when I’m in the clear, when I’m sure. You studied law at the University of Durham. Then you jumped into stock market trade... I’ve always loved playing with figures. Only that as a child, I was playing without anyone’s money. Now I’m an investment advisor, which means the figures are money. Does that mean that your law studies have gone to waste? My knowledge of the law has given me a different touch compared to other traders. Helps me see things more clearly. It didn’t go to waste. It helps me in decision making and thinking. You are a believer in hard work... I believe that you make your own luck. Hard work creates your luck. Anyone can be, if they work for whatever it is that they want. Has anything in your life happened that can back your belief? Sure there is... The first job I landed was as a clerical assistant at Credit Suisse...I was promoted in a year - I worked towards that promotion. At one point, my earnings moved from £16,000 a year to £250,000 in less than two years. £250, 000 a year... Yes, I was working at a senior level. Flying first class. Meeting investors from all over the world. Meeting bank managers. And it was an entirely consuming job. What do you mean by an entirely consuming job? Let’s see if this can help. Once when my wife was giving birth, I had to watch from a computer screen because I could not be there. Ever quit your job...? I did quit once. When I look back, I think that was a mistake - at that time. Longevity is key. I was just starting out when I quit. If you want to succeed and you’ve found a field or a company whose DNA you understand; stay there. Patience. When and why did you come back to Kenya? I came back in 2006. Why? Because I believed that Kenya, Africa was going to take off. This narrative of Africa rising, you believe in it. Don’t you think it is sort of a Western-driven, half-baked narrative? Africa is rising. It may not be rising for everyone but it is rising. If you look at the current GDPs of African countries and the current levels of development in Africa, you can see one thing; Africa is moving in the right direction. Has that image of Kenya, Nairobi that you had in 2006 changed? You know, people leave Europe and America and all those ‘great places’ to come settle in Nairobi. They have a good reason for doing that. Like the inter-connectivity of Nairobi. This is our break-out point. In terms of the region, Nairobi is globally fluent; we got a lifestyle, got great human capital and we got talent. I would not want to be in any other place in the world right now. So you walk into Kenya in 2006... I came in and I wanted to trade in oil. I believe I have an edge in oil. I understand international politics and Middle-East politics. Self taught. And then... I spent one year at the NSE floor. Trading my money. Then left. Why did you leave the NSE floor? I wanted to work for myself. I wanted to do the things I believed in. That rarely happens when you are on contract, working for someone else. Right... So now I work as an investment advisor, I run an investor relations business and a digital media business. On my terms. You host Mindspeak, where you interviewed Christine Lagarde, the IMF chief, early this year. Who is she as a person? I think she is a fabulous lady, incredibly intelligent and a fabulous intellectual. She is inclusive, humble, tough and has one of the sharpest minds that I’ve ever met. How does your wife take all the financial risks that come with trading? My wife came from an accounting background. She understands. She is more like my auditor. I’m the risk taker. You’ve been married for 18 years. What have you learnt about marriage? My wife is a strong pillar that I lean on. I rely on her for advice among many other things. Marriage is a journey. You need to be emotionally invested, you need to be flexible and above all, you need to be committed. Any children? Three daughters. The first born is 17 years old. Parenting...parenting? Parenting has no rules. You’ve got to be able to understand your child. What do you want for your daughters? I want them to have new horizons. I want them to be citizens of the world. And I want to be their friends. The last one maybe hard to achieve in their teenage years... My wife thinks I’m totally bonkers when I say I want to be a friend to our girls.