‘It is safer individuals diversify investments across jurisdictions’

Citizenship by investment (CBI) has caught the attention of high net worth individuals, including Nigerians, in recent years. In an interview with GEOFF IYATSE, the Chairman of Optiva Capital Partners Limited, a leading investment immigration wealth management company that is involved in some investment projects across the globe, Franklin Nechi, spoke about how the desire for global access, wealth optimisation and other opportunities fuel CBI.

In Nigeria, assets under management (AUM), of which investment immigration is a sub-set, was estimated at N3.5 trillion at the end of last year, according to Agusto and Co with modest growth expected going forward. How is the industry positioned to take advantage of this opportunity?
If you look at the projections in terms of growth, they talk about a need – a need to provide solutions. So, we are prepared to take advantage and leverage the need that already exists in the market. Over the years, we have strengthened and worked on our network of international partners and have strengthened that base. Right now, we can say that we have a rich network of international partners.

Why are these important? It is important to be able to provide solutions, in terms of investment immigration, investment services and advisory, which are specialised solutions that require professionals. Our network of international partners across investment immigration and advisory forms part of our confidence, hence we can continue to expand our offerings. So, when it comes to investment immigration, you talk about the holistic view, looking at all the jurisdictions Optiva Capital has a whole range of investments, depending on what our client’s needs would be. They could be looking for global access or immigration. We have got that. This is one of the ways we have put in the platforms to leverage the anticipated growth of the industry. Investment immigration is a premium service, which does not seem to promote financial inclusion.

How do you expand your offerings to attract more Nigerians?
First, it is about everything we are doing right now. We have laid the right foundation, we have got the solutions, supported by international financial partners, and we have got the distribution. What we are doing is deepening the market, the number of clients, the number of people who walk through our doors and we provide solutions. Right now, we have provided the solutions to thousands of families and you can see our commitment and our investments in the Nigerian space both in terms of our footprints and the quality of our people.

For Nigerians who are not looking to or cannot afford investment immigration, what are the other offerings wealth management and investment advisory could provide for good returns on investment?
When you talk about our commitment and our holistic offerings for different people across different life stages, we have solutions. Investment immigration, by default, is a premium service. It is legislated and introduced by acts of parliament in the various jurisdictions that we deal with. And it is for high net worth individuals to be able to bring in investments to spur economic growth in those particular jurisdictions. But apart from that, we have comprehensive offerings when it comes to wealth management.

Even investment immigration deals with different options. So, if you are looking at Canada, there are different investment scales. But looking at investment services and advisory, what we have is still a full range of investment opportunities for clients, whatever their life stage is – whether they are new entrants into the workplace or middle-level management or they are new families in their thirties or forties, we have investment solutions for them that are well designed.

CBI thrives on global partnerships. Could you speak on some of the cutting-edge partnerships that are creating social and economic values for Nigeria?
One of our success stories is our ability to develop partnerships with strong and well-recognised reputable institutions. One of them is Stuart Financial with headquarters in Montreal, Canada, a global company with offices in many countries. They are the financial intermediaries to the Quebec government, and they are members of the Investment Regulatory Council of Canada. A very strong institution, they have never had any African partner before now, and we are their only African partner. Not only that, we are engaged with them in Greece, Portugal and, of course, here in Africa, for a federal start-up programme in Canada. So, for the company to have that level of confidence in us speaks about something.

We also have Green and Spiegel, which is Canada’s oldest and largest immigration law firm based in Toronto and specialises in corporate and personal immigration services. They have offices in five countries including the United States, and we are their only African partners. There is also the Heng Sheng Group, which is another global group with footprints in many countries like the U.S., China, Singapore and Grenada. They have the largest investment in the Caribbean right now, a $2.4 billion investment. They are building the Grenada National Resort. We are equally their only African partner. Prior to our relationship with them, they had pockets of relationship but as soon as we came on board, everything was subsumed into our relationship.

Your organisation is 13 years old and still running. Is it safe to assume that you have grown from an insurance brokerage firm and evolved into a full-fledged wealth management organisation? Did this happen by chance? What factors and values drive the evolution and growth of the institution?

The story of Optiva Capital Partners cannot be told without reckoning with the environment. It has been a challenging business environment; some policies have made it difficult in terms of operating environment. But one of the things we have prioritised as a company is to recognise our staff and, then, the customers. The growth of the company has been about staff and customers. We select the best in the market and motivate them and create greater opportunities for them to grow. We train and incentivise to create and develop loyal staff because loyalty is key to progress. So, we are able to refocus everybody’s eyes on the goal and create an environment that is conducive to growth that has been key to our progress.
When you have highly motivated staff, you are able to deliver on your promises to your customers. We have developed a culture where staff are constantly seeking to give more to the client, which is our goal.

What would you advise Nigerians who are seeking to explore the wonders of the world, boundless opportunities and global connections?
The first message is that if the world were to be like a book if you operate in one country, you are reading only one page. People should begin to see the world as one because that is how it is configured right now, especially in the business world. You have to see yourself as operating in all of them so that you will be able to take advantage of what exists in all the places. Also, look at life as a marathon and not a sprint. That means that if you are rich today you also have to be thinking about tomorrow by making plans so that there will be long-term wealth. If you have visas, which are accessible, to travel today, how do you make them permanent? There are people who, 30 years ago, could travel to where they wanted. But today they are denied visas. So, people must get their umbrellas before it starts raining.