Ahmed Abou El Saad, CEO of Azimut Egypt: For our special Ramadan edition of the weekly My Morning Routine column, we spoke to Ahmed Abou El Saad (LinkedIn), Azimut CEO and Azimut Group’s Head of Regional Asset Management in MENA and Turkey. We asked Abou El Saad the usual questions to find out how a successful community member starts their day and threw in a few more to learn how he adjusts to Ramadan and what he looks forward to during the holy month. Edited excerpts from our conversation:

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My name is Ahmed Abou El Saad and I have been the CEO of Azimut Egypt for 16 years. I also serve as Head of Asset Management for Azimut Group in the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey and a board member of the Egyptian Exchange, where I represent securities firms. Additionally, I’m President of CFA Society Egypt and Vice Chairman of the Egyptian Investment Management Association. My work across the two associations focuses on advancing and diversifying Egypt’s capital markets, ensuring they align with global best practices. Investment and capital markets have been my foremost passion for over 25 years — the time I spent working in this industry.

Introducing new investment products to the market has been the linchpin of Azimut’s strategy. Azimut was the first non-bank financial institution to get licensed to launch investment funds, which were previously limited to banks and their clients. We were the first in the local market to launch a gold investment fund, a fund investing in private ins. funds, and a charitable investment fund — namely the Ataa Fund, which supports people with disabilities. We now manage a total of 15 investment funds. We also worked with the Financial Regulatory Authority to help set the regulatory framework that would allow brokerage firms to market investment funds and leverage tech-based platforms that make financial products more accessible.

Technology underpins our goal of reaching a broader audience. We recently secured the FRA’s approval to launch digital investment funds, which positions us to reach a wider client base. As part of this vision, we’re already providing investment tools to many leading fintech firms and digital platforms — such as Valu, MNT-Halan, Thndr, Menthum, Fawry, and Belbaqy, among others.

Blockchain is the next frontier for investment management, both globally and locally. After years of setting up a fintech ecosystem in the local market, Azimut is gearing up to move all its investment activities to blockchain-based infrastructure.

As CEO of Azimut Egypt, I set the company’s strategic direction, drive innovation, and introduce best practices to the local market. I start my day by catching up on financial markets, both globally and locally. I then check in on all the new investment products and asset management tools we’re currently developing. We have a massive pipeline of ideas that we’re working on — we essentially need to clone ourselves to execute them all.

I don’t follow a strict morning routine. I usually wake up around 8am and read EnterpriseAM on my way to the office. I arrive by 9am and spend the first 30 minutes reviewing emails and catching up on financial news before I hop into a meeting with my team for another 30 minutes. The rest of my day is made up of follow-ups, client meetings, and internal meetings about new and upcoming products — sometimes until 6-8pm.

Exercise and prayer are my daily constants. Working out helps me release stress and negative energy. So I spend about an hour each day between 6-7pm at the gym after work. In Ramadan, I shift workouts to pre-Iftar — I play sports with my kids or watch my son’s football matches at the Ramadan tournament.

My Ramadan schedule is more structured, with shorter work hours and more time for reflection. The slower pace also helps me focus better and gives me time to think of new investment products.

Supporting people with disabilities is a personal priority. My only sister, who is five years older, has special needs, and I consider her my true inheritance in life, especially after our father passed away. I visit her every weekend in Alexandria. She inspired me to launch the first school for people with disabilities in Egypt and help establish Ataa Fund.

Technology serves as my personal assistant. I rely on to-do lists and my phone calendar to organize everything from business meetings to family commitments, including my son’s football matches.

My work and personal life greatly overlap. My clients and colleagues are the friends I spend most of my time with outside of work hours. I’m also fortunate to have a wife who works in the same field. It helps her understand my commitments and the nature of my work. We have two sons — Adham, a 16-year-old football player, and Salim, who is nine — and they are my closest friends.

Similarly, my personal and professional goals are intertwined. I want to leave a lasting mark on Egypt’s investment landscape and make investing as common as food, healthcare, or education. The macroeconomic developments we’ve seen over the past years — inflation, high interest rates, and a declining EGP — present the perfect chance to expand investment culture to all segments of society.

The best advice I’ve ever received was to stay flexible and never make decisions without thorough research. Also, “The biggest risk is not taking any risks,” a quote from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, has profoundly impacted me. When you avoid taking action for fear of failure, you harm your chances of success.

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