out with Qt

Abdul Hakeem Mostafawi

ABILITY, NOT
NATIONALITY,
MATTERS

H
e is the first Qatari CEO of a multi-national corpora-
tion – HSBC Qatar – and the first national to be ap-
pointed to the HSBC Middle East Board of Directors.
But nationality is not what Abdul Hakeem Mosta-
fawi wants to be distinguished by. “These appoint-
ments are recognition of me as a person, my team, and
of course the country I am from, but I don’t want to
measure it with a nationality-based yardstick alone.
“At the end of the day, HSBC is a multinational
corporation and has a certain process and evalua-
tion procedure when appointing people. Capabili-
ties, dedication and commitment are all taken into
consideration”
“I was given the opportunity. Anyone who is com-
mitted – given the opportunity – can achieve what
I’ve done or go beyond. It is not rocket science; if
people have passion for what they do it’s not difficult
to be successful.”
In an interview to Vani Saraswathi, he speaks
of his personal mantras, professional goals and the
challenges of keeping up with the manic speed of
development.

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 out with Qt

Rob Altamirano
Role
model

My father, a self-made
man, who with passion,
commitment, hard
work and dedication
overcame many chal-
lenges to become the
resounding success he
is today.
He always tells us,
“When there is a will,
there is a way.”
Despite not being
educated himself, he
has always emphasised
the importance of
education and demon-
strated by example the
importance of balance
between work and
family.

Abdul Hakeem Mostafawi

CEO, HSBC Qatar

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 out with Qt

For 20 years, your growth has been steeped in for us, and it has paid off very well.
international best practices of a global player.
From that vantage point, how do you assess the But despite the conservative outlook, your funds
growth of local companies? did well even before the crash...
One needs to be fair in assessment. In recent years, Yes, because of our culture – being conservative is not
many companies are becoming more regional and an approach; it’s ingrained in everything we do.
global in their outlook and operation. Consequently, Talk to the senior most person at London HQ, or
they face more challenges when they go beyond their to our client service executive at the branch, it is the
boundaries – one needs to look at issues like corporate same mindset and outlook. If you approach the bank
governance, operational risk, diversity, transparency for a loan, we will not look at your salary and decide
to ensure that they are considered firms of a global the amount and pass it; we don’t have a ‘one size fits
standing. Many companies have already done that - all’ approach. We will assess your overall financial po-
Qatar Petroleum and Qatar Investment Authority to sition, creditworthiness, if your spouse is earning and
name a couple. These are really global players. There what your liabilities are. Two people earning a similar
are others who can develop further – mainly in the amount will not necessarily receive similar advice or
private sector. credit; we play the role of a financial advisor at this
point and that is how it should be. We go through a
At the bank or when you meet them informal- process, for which we get criticised, but we are taking
ly, what are the main concerns of local busi- a long term view.
nessmen, especially those running smaller
operations? Talking of criticism. Local
Sustainability is a major con- banks have not tapped into
cern for them. How can they the retail potential, have
sustain their businesses, con- they?
sidering the size of the econ- I don’t think that’s true. Retail
omy here – yes, it is growing, banking business is dynamic
however innovation, deter- and ever-evolving – because
mination and adapting to cus- “As a financial institution, its needs to change based on
tomer needs can overcome you have an obligation to be the global economy, market
any obstacle. fluctuations and needs and
So how do they expand
conservative. It is not about aspirations of the customers.
and keep up with those protecting the shareholders Keep in mind, there are unique
demands? and capital alone, it is also challenges in countries such as
What we offer in terms of Qatar, where the percentage
guidance is our global con-
about protecting the of locals is lower as compared
nectivity. For example, a cli- depositors...” to the larger migrant popula-
ent here in Qatar wishes to tion; and to top it off, there are
expand his business beyond 18 to 19 players in the financial
its boundaries or a company services sector. So within this
wants to diversify its risk context, I don’t think that ac-
portfolio. We help them find cusation is fair.
new opportunities. If they
want to go to the UK or China or Saudi, we help them, Ok, what about the customer service experience
because we have the expertise and global connectiv- then? Do you think it is up to scratch?
ity. We are well placed to help our customers in this Service industries are always under pressure, when
manner. it comes to customer expectation. And that is to be
expected. If you are in the industry, you need to be
Risk management obviously is right up your al- aware of what your customer wants and deliver ac-
ley. HSBC was relatively unscathed in the finan- cordingly. Again, when you are in a country such as
cial turmoil. So from your standpoint, where did Qatar where the population is very young, you need
people mess up? to be on your feet.
Very simple. We were in the past criticised for being Our organisation takes this very seriously. We have
conservative; that played a big role. As a financial in- mystery shoppers to assess our services. The results
stitution, you have an obligation to be conservative. It have been very good, but it keeps evolving. We have
is not about protecting the shareholders and capital a department that looks at the customer experience,
alone, it is also about protecting the depositors – to and this is an ongoing effort. There will be challenges,
whom most of the money belongs. and we have to learn to overcome them.
It is very important you play it right, and it should
not be only about profitability. You need to assess Financial institutions have been waiting for
your risk. Being conservative has been the main thing a more level playing field with regulatory

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Saving and future planning tips
w
hat happens is that people wait
to have a chunk of money before
they invest. While planning fi-
nances, people tend to give pri-
ority to building assets, such as
property. One of the things we started doing here
is creating a wealth management team that is
also looking at the needs of people who wants to
invest 300 or 500 dollars a month, whereas earli-
er it had to be a minimum of say 10000 or 50,000
dollars,” says Abdul Hakeem Mostafawi.
unification...
Personally I think it’s a good sign, it will take away
ambiguities and with one regulator, it will make op-
erations within the financial sector very transparent.
But there have been delays...
Yes. But as far as we are concerned, it’s heading in the
right direction. These things are not easy to do. Es-
pecially when you are integrating two regulators, it
takes time to get it right.
The other unification in the pipeline is the GCC
common currency. Does it have a future at all,
given the current social and economic scenario?
Of course. The Europeans took 40 to 50 years, and
the GCC is expected to do it in five? There are build-
ing blocks we need to overcome to get to that goal, and
the region is working on that. You need to take into
consideration the diversity and imbalance socially,
culturally, economically from country to country to
ensure a smooth transition. Case in point, after they
unified, Europe realised that each country had a dif-
ferent pension policy.
What’s happening with us in the GCC is that we are
learning from others experiences. There are a lot of
different perspectives we need to consider, but the
end objective, vision and direction is to go ahead with
the unification, which for us, as a financial institution
is a great opportunity; it makes for a bigger market.
Tell us a bit about HSBC’s Corporate citizenship
ethos.
HSBC has a history of supporting the communities
where we operate and with sustainability being a key
priority, we focus on two main areas – Education and
the Environment.
Through the Global Climate Partnership that was
launched in 2007, HSBC is working with four interna-
tionally renowned environmental NGOs to find ways
of reducing the impact of climate change. HSBC staff
all across the world are encouraged to take part in this
effort through the Climate Champions programme
where they undergo an intensive two-week training
on climate change. We have 13 Climate Champions in
QT-April.indd 85
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“It is our responsibility to educate our cus-
tomers. Having financial advisors on the ground
is important rather than having fly-by-night
advisors.
“My advice is, “Do NOT borrow to invest and
don’t wait for a big chunk of money to invest, do
it gradually and make it an integral part of ba-
sic financial planning. I personally advocate a
conservative long-term approach with reason-
able returns rather than a high-risk, high-return
approach.”
Qatar who after being trained, are now working on lo-
cal environmental projects. Further to this we invest
extensively in education projects and in Qatar we an-
nually have over 20 volunteers working closely with
Injaz Qatar to deliver our tailored personal financial
management module, the More Than Money pro-
gramme to Independent Schools.
We also support community health programmes
and cancer-awareness programmes by actively par-
ticipating in the Terry Fox Run and Think Pink Walk
every year.
Children with special needs are high on our priority Advice
list and we have invested greatly in some of the proj-
ects across Qatar. As you can see, this is something we
advocate and implement because we believe it is vital
Treat people the
for a sustainable future. way you wish to be
treated. Keep that
in mind, always.
Like all good things, Corporate Citizenship be-
gins at home, and employee well-being and en-
gagement are HR buzzwords; monetary perks
alone don’t cut it.
Flexibility. We give people the liberty to be flexible
with their schedule. As long as they do their eight
hours, we don’t hold them to coming in at 7 am.
Then, it’s about bonds. We spend more time here at
work, with colleagues, than with the family. So it is
important to make it a fun place, to have the right
environment.
Equally important is how we manage diversity. We
have 45 different nationalities, and each one brings
their own experiences to the mix.
When you see younger staff or youngsters in the
community, do you feel it is easier for them be-
cause everything is given to them on a platter or
tougher because of the competition?
When you speak to someone like my dad he would
say he had it easier in his time. Because life is chang-
ing all the time – I may not realise it now, but I will
when I grey a bit more.
Our aspirations and means of communication
are very different. Competition is just one part of it.
Being in the service industry, one of the dilemmas
we face is predicting what the market place wants,
april 2011 Qatar Today 85
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 out with Qt

Yes. But let’s look at it from the context of the

geo-politics of the region we live in. On the one
hand they have access to everything good, on the
other there is exposure to a lot that is not. To top
it all there are cultural and social taboos that
they have to deal with. There is a lot of conflict –
how do you address that issue?
Democracy in India is different from the one in the
US. They have different cultural contexts and pro-
cesses, but both are considered successes. It’s similar
to that.
With the technological advances and different me-
dia the younger generation are exposed to these days,
they are constantly accumulating and processing
knowledge. When you challenge their thinking pro-
cess or understanding, there will be conflict, which is
normal. Youth are about conflict; they challenge the
status quo every day.
Remember, the world is changing very fast. Be it at
the marketplace, geopolitics or social development.
Cultural lines are also blurring.
This is why good education and openness are
very important, as a parent, to help your child deal
how it will evolve, and what the younger generation with these challenges and adapt to an ever-chang-
wants and needs from us. They have to function in ing world. You need to be open, expose them to the
this ever-evolving environment. world, travel – you can’t say ‘don’t do this’ – you need
to explain why they should consider not doing it. And
But is there a sense of entitlement? let them make a few mistakes and learn from them.
When you are talking about a ‘generation’, I can’t Even at HSBC, we feel giving the employee room
take the example of a few and extrapolate it to the to make a mistake and learn from it is healthy, be-
rest. cause then you create a cul-
The thing about wealth is, ture of questioning the status
if the family doesn’t manage quo. If you are rigid, with too
it well with its younger gen- many raps on the knuckles,
eration, it could be a burden. then you are not going to nur-
One needs to hold children ture growth and innovation.
accountable – if there is no “When you challenge their
accountability, there is no You are a fitness ‘freak’...
responsibility and the family thinking process or how do you manage to fit
plays a large role in ensuring understanding, there will your fitness schedule into
the child grows up with the be conflict, which is normal. your workday?
right values. Yes, absolutely.
Youth are about conflict; I say to my friends, I pray five
Is there anything that wor- they challenge the status quo times a day, and this is my
ries you about the younger every day.” sixth. It has to be part of your
generation? life. Some people think it’s an
Honestly, in this country, addition. For me it’s a ritual.
very little worries me from
that perspective. We have a How do you unwind after a
leader with a strong vision, busy day?
with emphasis on intellectu- When you are passionate
al capital; the strategy revolves around the younger about what you do, you can manage time well. You
generation, which is strengthened by the country’s will not have workload issues if you love what you
investment in world-class facilities like Education do. Spending 16 hours on something you are pas-
City and the Science and Technology Park. That sionate about would probably feel like just six. But if
means younger Qataris will be far more educated, you don’t enjoy what you do, even an hour becomes
far more aware of global issues and far more exposed a burden.
to international best practices; the world is getting Sometimes I say I wish there was another four
smaller and more connected every day. hours in a day

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