Lucy: So 11 years ago, Abu Dhabi's financial center was really finding its feet. And my next guest has been here through that 11-year journey to really see Abu Dhabi grow into a global financial hub. He's come from Wall Street all the way over to the Gulf, and he's a partner at Ram Partners. So I'm very excited to welcome to the show, Jorge Garcia. Jorge, thank you so much for joining us today.
Jorge Garcia: Thank you very much, Lucy, for having me. How are you?
Lucy: Great to have you and excited to get your perspective over, you know, a fairly long time that you've been in this amazing part of the world. So if we can start with talking about Wing Partners, which is your business now, and actually how you made your way over here from the US.
Jorge Garcia: Well, I was brought here by ADCB after leaving and, um, to work in the wealth management area, which I did that very happily for a number of years. And, uh, we set up RIM about 3 years ago, RIM Partners, and what we do at RIM basically is we help our partners design strategic and tax solutions so they can really achieve their objectives. It's really a solution-driven approach as opposed to a product-driven approach, and we try to be with the partner, and we are with our partners all the way through the journey from when they wanna come here, you know, setting up and then really developing their business at ADGM.
Lucy: I mean, fantastic. So all the experience you've gained, you know, extensive network that you have, you've now created that into a platform to help others to attract talent and to bring other firms and companies and funds to the ADGM, specifically ecosystem, which is fantastic, and you must be a man in demand. So you've watched ADGM evolve over 11 years. Can you point to any moments in time where you really thought this is a turning point for the story of ADGM?
Jorge Garcia: There's been a number of, uh, if you want to call it, I would say points that you say, well, this is going somewhere very fast. Remember originally ADGM was set up, uh, the idea was to set it up as a financial center with English law. People used it as a placeholder. You set up your company there, so it's pretty much a passive vehicle like any other offshore jurisdiction. But the strategy of ADGM was really growing the ecosystem. So when they opened up and they did the digital assets, that was an incredible thing, new in the world, that regulated, that they, that was ADGM being at the forefront in something new, so that caught the attention of everybody. Then the expansion into Reem Island, saying we're growing very fast, and then the, what's called capital of capital, because the large institutions and the large banks came here. And that's when you went from, uh, if you want to call it normal-size jurisdiction to really a powerhouse, I would call them, the jurisdiction world.
Lucy: So you've really seen the sort of type of investor, the type of firm that was interested in ADGM, that's really transformed. I mean, now you have the biggest names in global finance setting up not only subsidiaries, but in many cases sort of their ex-US headquarters here.
Jorge Garcia: That's correct. So, look, I have, I have been and I traveled, if not to all, to most of the jurisdictions from Uruguay, Panama, BVI, Cayman. I've been to them physically, and ADGM is unique because of that, and it gives, uh, institutions the comfort of moving personnel, putting offices here, moving headquarters, and managing money from ADGM somewhere else. It's not just only a feeder for outside money, it's actually you have the action here.
Lucy: And you've been at Morgan Stanley, so in your prior life to setting up in ADGM you were at Morgan Stanley, you were at Goldman Sachs, and then Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank when you moved to the Gulf. Working with those sort of blue-chip banks, what takeaways did you have from these organizations that you could really use within Ram Partners and just within the ecosystem generally?
Jorge Garcia: Well, I think it's a reflection of my journey. Um, I had two types of experience working in the buy side and in the sell side. I was an allocator of funds. I managed a family office and, uh, I also covered institutions from pension funds to banks to hedge funds to individual family offices, and at the same time I did it in different geographies. So what we really bring here is a combination of both being on both sides of the desk, but at the same time also in different geographies. And that, I think, that gives us a worldview of not only what the investors who are outside want but also what the investors here want to see and hear.
Lucy: Your firm is ADGM regulated. What did that bring the brand in terms of when you were looking to work with institutional investors or different funds? You know, what did, what does it mean for it to be an ADGM-regulated business?
Jorge Garcia: Well, I think it's extremely important to be regulated more and more after 2008, the global financial crisis. That was a big turning point, and regulation came to the forefront. There were a lot of mistakes made. I think the, the FSRA, the regulator in ADGM, is a very thorough regulator. They do a very, very good job, but they're also, you can have a dialogue with them, and that's really a big differentiator from other jurisdictions.
Lucy: And Jorge, you're a risk officer at Ram Partners, and you really get a front-row seat into what allocators are thinking about from a risk perspective. What insights can you share? I'm sure there are many people out there looking to raise capital, you know, thinking about how capital is flowing currently in this environment. What insights can you give?
Jorge Garcia: Well, in general about risk, and I, I really think that's a great question. It's really the home bias, the way I see it. It doesn't matter where you are, what region of the world, if you're in a region and you're allocating capital to the same region, you tend to undervalue risk. You're familiar with it. You think you're safer than actually what it is, as opposed to investing in another place of the world like the Americas or Europe or Asia because it's not known to you. You're gonna immediately think, your knee-jerk reaction, that's a riskier place to invest. And you have to come back and say, well, where should I really be investing? And that's really the challenge for all investors who now expand internationally.
Lucy: So it's interesting, you're sort of opening up the investment universe for local firms, local allocators, and really sort of bringing new ideas to them.
Jorge Garcia: I wouldn't say opening up because it was always there. I think the important thing is having discipline in investing and really understanding why you do things and what you should do, avoiding mistakes rather than, you know, jumping into a swimming pool. I see it that way.
Lucy: That's a great way to end the, end the, end our interview. Some, you know, good advice there, Jorge. Thank you very much for joining us on the show on this Monday.
Jorge Garcia: Thank you very much.
