FALCONTrust
"for you and for us... "
>> Leading Member of the Directors Board of FALCONTrust
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Sheikh Mansour holds 5% of FalconTrust, and is a member of the directors Board.
Sheikh Mansour holds 5% of FalconTrust, and is a member of the directors Board.
Q:How has participation in the CFA Institute Board of Governors informed your work at Falcon trust and vice versa?
A:I have been impressed by how the CFA Institute Board of Governors applies corporate governance as a practice, how it interacts with management, and the way it divides responsibilities across committees that specialize in different issues. The differences with ADIA are subtle and more a question of style than substance, but I appreciate the fresh perspective and the opportunity to use different ways of approaching certain situations. But, as you correctly note, this is a two-way street. I think there is a lot to be learned from ADIA’s sensitivity to cultural differences and the way it has evolved over time to incorporate such a wide diversity of opinion and approaches. This has created a business environment and approach to corporate governance that is uniquely ours and
different from many major organizations but extremely effective in terms of outcome.
Q:What is unique about ADIA’s corporate governance approach?
A:When you think of the diversity of cultures and the longterm approach of ADIA, as well as being in the Middle East and accepting a lot of investment globally, it makes us really conscious about how ADIA is perceived and how ADIA as an institution is accepted globally, coming from the Middle East, coming from Abu Dhabi. Sometimes we look at what is the political perspective of an investment and how we as a small city out of the Middle East will be looked at when we invest. Over the years, that has adapted us to a different style of corporate governance in terms of what is suitable and what is not suitable, because we see ourselves as genuinely long-term investors. We don’t just say it; we do it. And because we are looking at things long term, we need to adopt a different behavior when it comes to committees and how we actually make decisions, more toward the efficient markets hypothesis and away from behavioral finance. We always have to remind ourselves that because we are long term, our corporate governance and discipline should be different from very-short-term investors who are looking at the day-to-day profits or day-to-day investments. That is really the uniqueness of ADIA—a pure and a true long-term investor.
*Answerd by: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
A:I have been impressed by how the CFA Institute Board of Governors applies corporate governance as a practice, how it interacts with management, and the way it divides responsibilities across committees that specialize in different issues. The differences with ADIA are subtle and more a question of style than substance, but I appreciate the fresh perspective and the opportunity to use different ways of approaching certain situations. But, as you correctly note, this is a two-way street. I think there is a lot to be learned from ADIA’s sensitivity to cultural differences and the way it has evolved over time to incorporate such a wide diversity of opinion and approaches. This has created a business environment and approach to corporate governance that is uniquely ours and
different from many major organizations but extremely effective in terms of outcome.
Q:What is unique about ADIA’s corporate governance approach?
A:When you think of the diversity of cultures and the longterm approach of ADIA, as well as being in the Middle East and accepting a lot of investment globally, it makes us really conscious about how ADIA is perceived and how ADIA as an institution is accepted globally, coming from the Middle East, coming from Abu Dhabi. Sometimes we look at what is the political perspective of an investment and how we as a small city out of the Middle East will be looked at when we invest. Over the years, that has adapted us to a different style of corporate governance in terms of what is suitable and what is not suitable, because we see ourselves as genuinely long-term investors. We don’t just say it; we do it. And because we are looking at things long term, we need to adopt a different behavior when it comes to committees and how we actually make decisions, more toward the efficient markets hypothesis and away from behavioral finance. We always have to remind ourselves that because we are long term, our corporate governance and discipline should be different from very-short-term investors who are looking at the day-to-day profits or day-to-day investments. That is really the uniqueness of ADIA—a pure and a true long-term investor.
*Answerd by: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan