Money & Me: How Al Fardan Exchange's chief executive handles his own cash

Hasan Al Fardan says he still has the shoes he bought with his first pay cheque

Hasan Al Fardan says he takes a balanced approach to managing his wealth. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Hasan Al Fardan, an Emirati national and chief executive of money transfer company Al Fardan Exchange, believes it is his responsibility to sustainably manage his legacy family business wealth for future generations. His understanding of money has been shaped by older generations of his family, who endured hardships and challenges in creating wealth.

Born and raised in Abu Dhabi, Mr Al Fardan, 38, held important positions at the sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia), gaining experience in investment strategy and financial management during a six-and-half year stint.

“The amount of effort that Adia puts into training every UAE national is remarkable. I wouldn't be able to do what I'm doing today for my family if I’d not spent my time with Adia,” he says.

Mr Al Fardan also serves on the executive board of the Emirates Family Office Association and is a board member of the UAE's Foreign Exchange and Remittance Group, where he heads the FinTech subcommittee. In addition, he serves as a director of Ajyad Capital, a Bahraini investment firm, and is a supervisory board member at Evocabank, an Armenian bank.

He holds a master’s degree in real estate, finance and investment from the Henley Business School at the University of Reading in the UK. He lives with his family in Abu Dhabi.

Did wealth feature in your childhood?

Most of my experience or knowledge around wealth has come from my grandfather, my father and my extended family. I have listened to how my grandfather and the older generation experienced difficulties and hardships. It was not so long ago that people had to struggle to make ends meet prior to the advent of oil.

The driving engine of our economy was natural pearls. My grandfather and his family have been renowned for pearling for the last 200-plus years in the region. While we live in a degree of comfort, they've been through very difficult times and challenges to be able to have the wealth that they managed to build. As the younger generation, we have the responsibility to preserve that heritage and legacy.

Did you face any early financial jolts?

Prior to working for any kind of financial reward, we perhaps took certain things for granted. When I started working for Adia, I started to value the effort that goes into building wealth. Also, listening to my grandfather and the older generations talk of how things were not readily available helped frame my knowledge and appreciation for wealth.

My family has been quite focused on charitable work. When you see how difficult it is to generate money, you make a choice to spend a part of it on yourself and put the excess back into the community to help those in need.

I've learnt to view money as an enabler. Yes, you can buy things and have experiences by virtue of having access to wealth. But what's also rewarding is redistributing money within the economy by assisting people with financial and medical needs. It's far more rewarding than spending it on things that are perishable.

How do you grow your wealth?

There are two fundamental ways in which you can grow your wealth. You must take focused bets and specialise in one area or a few subsets of businesses and then grow those. You can either do that as a business operator yourself, or by investing in areas with significant growth potential.

Creating wealth is one challenge, and preserving it is another. There is some family involvement in our business. But it's important that when the business reaches a degree of maturity, you start to institutionalise it and treat it as if you don't own it. We apply the same mindset to money. It's technically your wealth, but if you start to treat it like you don't own it and set limits around it, you become disciplined. You'll be surprised by your ability to maintain wealth, develop and grow it.

Are you a spender or a saver?

I like to have a balanced approach to managing wealth. I think it's important to put money aside for a rainy day and to consistently reinvest this money. Keeping money idle is not necessarily the right thing to do for growth. You want to consistently take some element of risk, which depends on your individual risk appetite.

What has been your best investment?

My best investment is in my education and personal development. I can talk at length about what investments were right and wrong for us, but the one thing that has stood the test of time is the good lessons I've taken from being around individuals with significant amount of experience and exposing myself to various businesses and investments.

Also, the amount of time that I've invested in myself by attending courses, reading books and engaging with foundations and charities has had a positive impact on developing myself.

Any cherished purchases?

With my first salary, I bought a pair of nice shoes that I've kept for memorabilia. There’s something special about getting that first paycheque. I still have that pair of shoes. I'm not getting rid of those anytime soon.

What are your financial goals?

To continue to develop our family business and our capabilities in a sustainable way. Coming from a legacy family business, we want growth, but it must be sustainable for subsequent generations. I'm not just working for myself. I'm working for future generations of the family. What I do today has to position the family business and the family's wealth to be sustainable for my kids and their kids, and so on.

What luxuries are important to you?

Time with my family. I can't think of a luxury that outweighs it.

How do you feel about money?

Money needs to be respected, irrespective of the quantum. If you have good saving habits and invest prudently, but with a little bit of risk, generally, it will serve you well.