Navin Valrani is chief of the engineering services cluster of Al Shirawi Group, a family-owned industrial group based in Dubai. He also heads the education part of the company and is overseeing September’s roll-out of the group’s first school, Arcadia Preparatory School. Mr Valrani, an alumnus of London Business School, is 45 and from India.
How do you spend your weekends?
On Friday mornings, I play cricket with my sons, who are aged 18 and 16, and our staff at home. We have a few hours of games, then my kids go over to their grandparents who are very close by, and my wife and I have lunch together and spend a few hours on our own. Then the kids come back and we usually end up doing some indoor activity, or we go to a nice restaurant and spend time as a family, with quality intellectual conversations. On Saturdays, we work out together as a family in the gym. We motivate and correct each other, doing a combination of cardio and weights – the boys do more lifting. It’s a fun family activity. After lunch everybody runs their errands.
How did you become a CEO?
I was schooled in Dubai, then went on to the Wharton School of Business in the US. I came back and joined the group, initially on the marine heavy equipment side of the business. In 1997 our chairman and senior vice chairman called me and gave me the building services side, because of the successes I’d had with the equipment. I started off as an executive director for five years, then they wanted me to lead the business. In the 19 years since I took over as CEO, we’ve grown the business over 30 times.
What was the lowest point of your career?
Probably when I first took over the business. I was relatively young at 27 and was given the construction side to run. It was a harsh industry, and being young and trying to learn from the people around me was quite daunting. My wife was pregnant and we were trying to achieve many goals together. But that was a while ago and we’ve moved on since then.
What advice would you offer to others starting out in your business?
Believe in yourself. Life is full of challenges, but the majority, if not all, of the problems are temporary. There will be a time when will you look upon that problem and smile. It’s also important to live by your values. Work becomes more fun than it’s supposed to be when you do that.
What’s your most indulgent habit?
I have a tendency to get lost in my thoughts, but I would say eating the wrong foods is probably my close first. I try to stay away from carbs, but once I get a taste on a spoon then I just can’t stop.
What do you have on your desk at work?
I have several desks, and I spend a lot of time in my car. So there’s nothing given on my desk. A lot of big ideas aren’t on my desk but are in my head.
What’s your go-to gadget?
It’s got to be my iPhone. Between my iPhone, my iPad, my Apple TV and my Macbook Air, I’m pretty much Apple all the way.
What can’t you live without?
My wife, Monica. I met her when I was in my last year of university and we’ve pretty much been sweethearts since then – we got married on Christmas Day when I was 23 and she was 22 and we’ve had 22 fantastic years together. We’re quite a romantic couple. I am who I am because of my wife. She is constantly there to support me, and vice versa. She runs the Ladybird chain of nursery schools and she’s a passionate believer in early years education. Her passion rubs off on me.
How do you achieve a work-life balance?
I think it’s a question of knowing what my priorities are, that my family comes first. When I wake up, the first thing I ask myself is what do I need to do today for my family. Before I get to work I check those boxes. They could just be simple tasks like homework support for my kids. I have a smile for the whole day because I start it off on such a positive note, helping those I love.
If you could you swap jobs with anyone, who would it be and why?
I think I’d want the job I have right now. I truly believe I am fortunate enough to make a difference in so many people’s lives. I have over 5,000 working for the company and I go out every day knowing there are 5,000 families that I contribute to in my own little way, which keeps me going at work.
business@thenational.ae
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Company%20Profile
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
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Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
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Asian Cup 2019
Quarter-final
UAE v Australia, Friday, 8pm, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
Company%20Profile
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Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 2
Suarez (10'), Messi (52')
Real Madrid 2
Ronaldo (14'), Bale (72')
The%20specs
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