Money and Me: Head of retail banking at Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank

Phil King is the head of retail banking at Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank. The Briton, 52, began his career in corporate banking in New York, before moving to retail banking with Citigroup, where he spent 14 years. He moved to Abu Dhabi in 2013 to join ADIB.

Describe your journey so far? I was born in London and grew up in Maidenhead, Berkshire, in the UK. There wasn’t a lot of money around as a single parent family and my mother was always scrambling to keep the house together so the holidays were pretty few and far between. However, I was pretty good at sports and ended up going overseas on the back of my sporting endeavours. As opposed to being a lawyer at university I decided that travel was more interesting and I got into languages and that enabled me to get a job in international banking. So having gone from zero pocket money and granddad helping me pay for my piano lessons, I ended up in New York thinking I was walking the streets of gold. I got a very lucky break at that point and started in the world of financing. I went on to get a decent wage that was probably 10 times what my mother managed to achieve, so I felt very blessed. I was lucky to stay on an international footing for a while. I moved to Europe, went to Italy and then back to London. I decided to do an MBA which I financed myself and that set me back for about a year-and-a-half afterwards but luckily I got a job in finance and moved up the scale pretty quickly, with Citibank, to become very senior and the money kept coming in over the years. I think I’ve had good fortune; my financial journey started from zero to suddenly getting a nice kick.

Are you a spender or saver?

I spend my money enjoying certain things that I didn’t enjoy before. I don’t cut back but that doesn’t mean I am a big spender. I spend within my means, usually. Where I don’t spend within my means is on my family. My wife is an extraordinary shopper and my mother is a disaster when it comes to finances. I try to be wise. I have three daughters and they have all inherited my wife’s taste for extravagance. There’s not a day goes by when I don’t get SMSs from stores and I ask myself how can you wear so many clothes? I try to invest sensibly. Not everything has worked out but touch wood most things have. That part has been good. I save any surplus every month and tend to invest any bonuses and I support my family in England.

What is your philosophy towards money?

I think money gives you a lot of freedom to do things. I don’t think you can say that it doesn’t buy you happiness because without money you are considerably unhappy because you are always struggling, but it’s not the be all and end all. The aim I have is to be sufficient to support family and extended family and have the lifestyle to support what I feel is comfortable for me. That’s not an extravagant lifestyle.

Have you made any financial mistakes along the way?

I’ve not got myself into debt or bankruptcy. I’ve not always been careful about staying on top of all my investments though. Sometimes I’ve got nasty shocks after entrusting people with my money and paying them for it. Sometimes I wish I had been more on top of my investments.

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

I’d want to buy a Ferrari or a nice motorbike but I’d probably end up doing the sensible thing and focus first on family and then have fun with what’s left over. Clearly I would make sure my mother, my family back home in the UK and my Spanish wife’s family back in Spain are looked after, first and foremost the people around me.

What do you enjoy spending your money on?

On things I think are nice life experiences. I love to travel with the family, I love to buy property. I do the things that bring quality of life.

mkassem@thenational.ae

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