Pocketful of Dirhams: How do finance professionals manage their own money?


Felicity Glover
  • English
  • Arabic

Have you ever wondered how finance professionals manage their own money?

It can be difficult for many of us to manage our personal finances at the best of times, such as sticking to a budget, ensuring we have enough to cover our daily expenses and consistently saving for important financial milestones, such as a down payment on a home and retirement.

There's no doubt that financial literacy is one of the most important elements of successfully managing our money — but it doesn't come naturally to some people, who struggle to plan for a financially secure future.

While some of us may seek advice from a finance professional to help us on our path to financial security, others might be wondering whether those professionals manage their money differently to regular people. And are they more responsible and less susceptible to temptation than we are?

In this episode of Pocketful of Dirhams, host Felicity Glover speaks to Fazeela Gopalani, the head of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in the Middle East, who says that planning is key to managing your personal finances successfully — and something that she practices every day with her own money.

Hosted by Felicity Glover

Produced by Arthur Eddyson and Doaa Farid

Listen to last month's episode on whether ChatGPT can replace financial advisers:

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Xpanceo

Started: 2018

Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov

Based: Dubai, UAE

Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality

Funding: $40 million

Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)

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Price, base: Dh5.1 million

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Transmission: Seven-speed automatic

Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm

Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km

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Two additions for England ODIs: Mohammad Amir and Asif Ali

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- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

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Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

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Available: Now

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Torque: 859Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

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On sale: Now

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Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed 

About Seez

Company name/date started: Seez, set up in September 2015 and the app was released in August 2017  

Founder/CEO name(s): Tarek Kabrit, co-founder and chief executive, and Andrew Kabrit, co-founder and chief operating officer

Based in: Dubai, with operations also in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon 

Sector:  Search engine for car buying, selling and leasing

Size: (employees/revenue): 11; undisclosed

Stage of funding: $1.8 million in seed funding; followed by another $1.5m bridge round - in the process of closing Series A 

Investors: Wamda Capital, B&Y and Phoenician Funds 

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Sir Tim Berners-Lee was born in London in a household of mathematicians and computer scientists. Both his mother, Mary Lee, and father, Conway, were early computer scientists who worked on the Ferranti 1 - the world's first commercially-available, general purpose digital computer. Sir Tim studied Physics at the University of Oxford and held a series of roles developing code and building software before moving to Switzerland to work for Cern, the European Particle Physics laboratory. He developed the worldwide web code as a side project in 1989 as a global information-sharing system. After releasing the first web code in 1991, Cern made it open and free for all to use. Sir Tim now campaigns for initiatives to make sure the web remains open and accessible to all.

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Updated: March 28, 2023, 6:34 AM`
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