Eager to explore new lands

Investment banker Arijit Nandi has learnt the hard way about investing in stock markets after losing money in the financial crisis of 2008.

Arijit Nandi is a vice president for investment banking at The National Investor. Delores Johnson / The National

Arijit Nandi is a vice president for investment banking at The National Investor in Abu Dhabi. The India-born, 37-year-old banker moved to the UAE in 2007 and has dabbled between investment banking and consulting during his 10 years in the Gulf in search of the perfect balance between life and work.

Describe your financial journey so far.

Ten years ago, I made my way from India to Kuwait. At the time there was a marked difference in income from the place where I call home and the Gulf region. However, that gap has substantially narrowed over the last few years. I then moved from Kuwait to the UAE in 2007. By 2008 the financial crisis took its toll on Dubai, and I made some losses on some personal equity investments. On the other hand, because the IPO market was quite dead I had a good work-life balance. But that’s all changed with the recovery … I think that as you age and grow your experience, your financial capital should grow at a healthy rate because your human capital is on the decline. As you begin your career your potential to earn is huge because you have decades of income from work ahead of you. But when you’re, say in your 40s, that time horizon is obviously much smaller.

Are you a spender or saver?

It’s a balance. I wouldn’t say that I am a big spender or a big saver. I don’t have a fixed target at the end of the month. I like to enjoy my life and have decent savings, but not to go overboard.

What is your philosophy towards money?

Money alone cannot bring anyone happiness. But to be moderately happy, money is a very important strategic tool to have. I guess people should spend it wisely but it’s important to be happy. Especially in the Middle East, there’s an opportunity to have a good work and life balance. I think that should be a priority rather than blindly growing your money and bank balance.

Have you made any financial mistakes along the way?

Yes, I put money in the stock markets and lost it during the meltdown at the end of 2008. I wouldn’t call it a mistake. My reading of the market, or the economy, was not appropriate. Over the years I’ve learnt that you should avoid concentration of risk. It should be diversified: real estate, equities, commodities and fixed income and deposits and idle money sitting in bank accounts.

If you won Dh1 million, what would you do with it?

I wouldn’t mind opening a side business. I wouldn’t put it in the stock market – not at this level for sure. I think the property market in Dubai is already heated up. I would invest in a private equity opportunity, acquire a small service-orientated business, say a restaurant, or a nursery – something that you can buy at a discount and hire a good management team to run it. The entire market here is driven by middle-income expats. So if you have a business geared towards that segment it would be a good position to be in.

What has been your biggest financial lesson?

Not to be leveraged when investing in stock markets. Leverage, especially if it’s used to buy pure financial paper is a bit of a question. Of course one needs leverage to buy real estate, for example, but I wouldn’t recommend it to buy financial stocks.

What do you enjoy spending money on?

Travel is something which I like. I like visiting places; the Middle East is uniquely located for that. I have been to Europe, the Far East. I would like to go to Latin America, especially Chile and Peru. It’s a bit of travel to do from here but I would like to do that one day.

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