We continue our series getting to know the constituents of 2021 PAM 50 Most Influential, an annual list of those at the forefront of shaping private client wealth management in the UK and Crown Dependencies.
This week we hear from Khaled Said, managing partner at Capital Generation Partners (CapGen). Mr Said is one of the founders of CapGen, which has won the PAM Award for ‘client service quality – ultra high net worth’ for three years running.
The firm manages this service excellence while maintaining strong profit margins. In 2020 it made several key hires and brought three of its longer-term employees into the partnership.
Mr Said is known in the industry for his principled, commercial approach. He now manages the client relationships and business development functions at CapGen, as well as sitting on the asset allocation, investment, and risk committees.
He began his career in 1998 as a strategy consultant at Bain and Company, with a focus on private equity. He holds degrees from INSEAD, Harvard and Oxford.
Khaled Said
What team or personal achievement over the past year are you most proud of?
I’m proud of the whole CapGen team. We’ve kept our culture and spirit even though we’ve been apart for over a year, and we’ve worked collaboratively to do great things as a business; we’ve built a fantastic new brand, and we’ve worked across the whole business to engage clients and prospects with our Responsible Wealth initiative. Seeing that conversation take off, and people really starting to embrace responsible investing makes me proud to work in this industry.
What piece of advice would you give your younger self?
To learn to delegate to brilliant people. When you’re just starting out and you create a business that you love it can be hard to let go of some elements of the work, but eventually it’s even more satisfying to see your business as a place where talented people can thrive.
What do you find most rewarding about your role?
Our clients are pretty extraordinary people, they come from all over the world, have all kinds of different businesses and interests, and they often have deep expertise within very specific sectors.
You’d be hard pressed to find a more interesting group of people to work with, so for me, talking to them, helping them, and learning from them is easily the most rewarding part of the role.
What most excites or interests you about the wealth management industry right now?
I think despite the challenges that it has presented, Covid has actually really levelled the playing field between giant brands and independent firms.
That’s because in this environment there’s nothing to hide behind – everyone’s spare room looks the same – so what people are engaging with is your words, your personality, what kind of person you’d be like to work with.
That’s been a major boon for us as an independent firm made up of highly energised people who really do care about the job we do for clients.
If you couldn’t work in wealth management/private banking, what other career appeals?
I’d love to own a bar or a restaurant; when I was little and my teachers asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always used to say a bartender. I have no idea where that came from, but my abiding love of good bars and restaurants has certainly stuck.
What luxury item would you want with you on a desert island?
A Peloton bike! I’d stay fit, and those classes are almost part fitness, part entertainment, so I think that would at least keep me fairly well occupied.
What’s a cheesy pop song that you love?
Is Billy Joel cheesy? I don’t think so, but my colleagues tell me he is, so I’d have to say Billy Joel’s 'Piano Man'.
Was there a particular guilty pleasure which helped you through lockdown?
I don’t even know if I’d call it a guilty pleasure any more, but it’s got to be TV. I’ve got into a handful of the French TV shows on Netflix – if you haven’t seen Call My Agent, watch it now – and we watch Brooklyn 99 with the kids which is great fun.
