Biography
Beginning
Moin Mohammed Fudda was born in 1954 in Karachi. His ancestors were originally from Thatta, Sind and later moved to Junagadh. His father, the late Haji Ismail Fudda, had a background in finance and started his business in Mozambique before coming to Pakistan after partition. Haji Ismail Fudda had four sons of which Moin is the youngest. He completed his early primary education at Kutiyana Memon School Kharadar and matriculated from Husaini Public School Nazimabad.At an early age of nine years and fortunate to have realized the value of life in early childhood, he started selling garments after attending the primary school in mornings. After matriculation, with a desire to attend a morning college, unlike his brothers who attended evening colleges, he took a bold step by financing his own education by starting a General Store in partnership with one of his uncles acting as an investor and silent partner. During this period, his grandfather shared his burden by looking after the business from 8:00 a.m. till 2:00 p.m.
With an urge and desire to acquire higher education, he saw an advertisement in a newspaper for grant of scholarship towards B.S. in Insurance and Economics at the RCD College of Insurance and Economics in Tehran, Iran. Fortunately, he was one of the three students selected for this scholarship from Pakistan. On 29th January, 1975, he stepped out of the country for the first time with a meager $30 in his pocket.
Life in Tehran
In Iran, the first challenge for Fudda was to learn Persian. While his academic pursuits took place in English, he hoped to gain more from his experience by learning Persian and enjoying the world outside his school. After six months of intensive Persian language classes as well as taking compulsory morning classes in other subjects, he had the choice of attending evening classes. Thus he decided to work in the morning and joined Stewart Wrightson (Lloyds Brokerage Office) to simultaneously gain practical experience.
His normal working day in Tehran began at 6:30 a.m. He worked each day from 7.30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and attended classes from 2:30 p.m. till 9:30 p.m. His Friday mornings were usually spent visiting the spiritual places such as Mazaar (Shrine) and the library of the great scholar Sufi Shah Abdul Azim in Southern Tehran. Long weekends were spent at Kum and holidays at Isphaan and Mashad.
By acquiring a reasonable command over Persian language, he also started doing correspondence for a local trading company on Thursday afternoons. He completed his BS in Insurance & Economics with distinction in 1978. Conscious of the fact that he had signed a bond to serve Pakistan Insurance Corporation for three years as a requirement of his scholarship, he approached the organization, but after getting no response proceeded to USA for higher education.
USA Experience
With this gradual approach of hard work and savings during this time, he was able to pursue a Master in Business Administration in Insurance and Risk Management from the St. Jones University (formerly College of Insurance in New York), USA. Upon completion of his MBA, he was offered a lucrative job at American International Group (AIG), the largest international insurer in the world. He also became an Adjunct Professor at The College of Insurance.
During his stay in United States of America in 1979, he suffered through the death of his beloved mother. Upon returning to Pakistan, he entered into an arranged marriage, the best decision of his life. After marriage, the couple lived in USA for few years until his wife persuaded him to return to Pakistan, which also provided him an opportunity to spend some time with his father.
Return to Pakistan
His first job in Pakistan was with the newly established Reliance Insurance Company as Executive Vice President. At the age of 34, he was the youngest officer appointed as a Grade 20 Officer (with Basic Pay Scale of Grade 21) as the Executive Director of Reinsurance, Planning & Development at Pakistan Insurance Corporation (PIC). He spent three Years with the organization, which also provided him an opportunity to fulfill his commitment as linked to the grant of the RCD Scholarship to study in Tehran. Later, he joined Commercial Union (CU), the largest British insurer in Pakistan (now AVIVA), as Country Chief.
In 1996, he was appointed the first Managing Director of CU Life as well as the Country Chief of CU in Pakistan. In 2002, AVIVA decided to pull back from six countries including Pakistan and sold its operations to Jubilee General and Life insurer. At that juncture, he had an option either to continue in the insurance sector or to pursue a career in a different field. Amongst the offers that he had, he opted to be the Managing Director of the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) to practice Risk Management, which was a minor of his MBA studies.
Association with New Zealand
By virtue of CU’s joint branch agreement with New Zealand Insurance Company, the New Zealand Ambassador based in Tehran, Iran and accredited to Pakistan approached him to assist in setting up their trade office and act as an Honorary Trade Representative. With his wide contacts, the trade between the two countries doubled within a year. He was appointed as the Honorary Consul of New Zealand for Pakistan in 1990 and elevated to the position of Honorary Consul General for Pakistan.
Contributions in Social and Corporate Sectors
25 years in Insurance - General & Life - Reinsurance & Risk Management
While studying at the RCD College he gained three years of practical experience at Stewart Wrightson (leading Lloyd’s Brokerage House). At AIG he was responsible for the Controllers Department, doing quarterly and annual filings for six group companies. Later he moved to the Reinsurance Division and was involved in developing reinsurance treaties for product liability as well as product guarantee and the first ever political risk coverage issued by AIG. Finally, before returning to Pakistan, he spent a year at American Life, a group company of AIG. During the period, he was also appointed as a Member of Faculty of The College of Insurance, New York as an Adjunct Assistant Professor.
Upon his return to Pakistan, he joined Reliance Insurance Company as Executive Vice President and contributed towards an early rise of this private company that was listed at the KSE.
During his tenure as Executive Director, he introduced a professional approach in dealing with private sector companies and in the very first year all reinsurance contacts internally as well as externally were accomplished well before their expiries.
He also established a Research and Development Department and introduced a three –month course on Insurance and Re-insurance for industry professionals. Finally he took a number of steps to substantially increase the profitability of the PIC, which resulted in the corporation receiving the top companies’ awards from the KSE. As General Manager of Commercial Union, the largest British (General) insurers (now AVIVA) operating in Pakistan, his vision as well as technical and marketing skills allowed CU to become the largest foreign insurer in the country with highest profitability within four years of his posting.
When life assurance in Pakistan was re-opened to the private sector in 1996, he was appointed the first Managing Director of Commercial Union Life Assurance Company (Pakistan) Limited as well as the Country Chief of the parent company, the CGU International Insurance plc. He played a very effective role in its conception, incorporation, organization, and the establishment of its branches at a number of important centers throughout Pakistan providing employment opportunities to over 1000 people. He was instrumental in CU Life being the first insurance company in Pakistan to receive ISO 9002 certification. In 2002 AVIVA decided to pull back from six countries including Pakistan and sold its operations to Jubilee and General and Life when Mr. Fudda opted for an early retirement from the Group.
Over a quarter of a century, Mr. Fudda represented PIC as well as the Insurance Association of Pakistan at the Executive Board level as well as Technical Committees of RCD Reinsurance Pool and the Federation Asian & African Reinsurance Pool. He delivered lectures and led a number of seminars at the Pakistan and Karachi Insurance Institutes and other domestic and international institutions. He was a member of the Working Group of the National Insurance Reform Commission and worked closely with the Asian Development Bank in the development of the insurance sector in Pakistan by actively participating in the deliberations on Insurance Ordinance 2000.
While pursuing other interest at KSE and CIPE, he remained in contact with insurance industry and worked with SECP in drafting the Micro Insurance Regulations. In 2016 he was appointed as Country Representative of SCOR – Global Tier 1 Reinsurer. SCOR a triple engine Group is organized around two main businesses, Global Property and Casualty Reinsurance and Global Life Reinsurance, plus Global Investments.
Engagement with Stock Exchanges
During 1998 to 2000 when Mr. Fudda was associated with Management Association of Pakistan, he was nominated as one of the first Independent Director on the Board of Karachi Stock Exchange. In 2002 after leaving CU, he was offered the position of Managing Director of the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE). He accepted the role to also practice his learning of Risk Management, which was a minor subject in his MBA studies. Since 2000, Economic team of the Government had initiated various reforms, and Pakistani economy had started showing from stock market’s point of view that there was a need to capitalize on those reforms. Therefore, after taking charge and sensing the opportunities, Mr. Fudda initiated and implemented a comprehensive plan to refocus, reorganize and reinvigorate the institution to bring it into the national and international limelight. This included a number of measures such as introduction of the Code of Corporate Governance, stronger risk management regulations, capital adequacy, exposure and margin requirements, clearing and settlements, greater discipline in trade, and enhancing the transparency at all levels of operation. These initiatives resulted in restoring the investors’ confidence.
During the period he represented KSE at number of domestic and international events including (i) 10th Asia Pacific Issuers & Investors Forum, Singapore; (ii) Euro-Money Breakfast Panel Discussion, Dubai; (iii) Asian Development Bank Regional Seminar on Investigation and Enforcement, Manila;
(iv) Capital Market Development Program – Securities & Exchange Commission, Washington; (v) South Asian Federation of Exchanges (SAFE), Mumbai; and (vi) Federation of European and Asian Stock Exchanges (FEAS) at Zagreb and Istanbul.
He was elected to the Technical Committee of SAFE and Executive Committee and Chairman of the Task Force on Corporate Governance in the FEAS Region, upon completion of his three-year successful tenure as MD- KSE, Mr. Fudda did not opt for renewal and decided to engage in another challenging opportunity. In February 2015, to take benefit from his past experience, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan nominated him as a Director on the Board of Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE) wherein he was elected as Chairman of the Board. He successfully worked for integration of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad Stock Exchanges into a Pakistan Stock Exchange which was launched in January 2016.
In February 2016, he was nominated by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) as a Director on the Board of Pakistan Stock Exchange, and on its behalf he also serves on the Boards of Central Depository Company (CDC) and Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance (PICG).
As Country Director CIPE
Mr. Fudda was appointed as Country Director of Center for International Private Enterprise, CIPE (an affiliate of US Chamber of Commerce) in 2005 to establish and head its Pakistan office. During 10 years, he brought policy level impact in Pakistan and led projects involving Chambers of Commerce and Business Associations development, Economic Journalism, strengthening Corporate Governance in Listed Companies, Family Owned Businesses and State Owned Enterprises, creation of Women Chambers, Youth Entrepreneurship, developing National Business Agendas for Information Technology Industry in association with the Pakistan Software House Association (P@sha)and for Manufacturing Sector with Pakistan Business Council (PBC), outreach and availability of Microfinancein association with Pakistan Microfinance Network and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), drafting of regulations for Micro Insurance, Private Equity and Venture Capital and creation of Capital Market institute.
Qualification
MBA, Insurance & Risk Management 1979 St. Jones University, New York, USA
B.S., Insurance & Economics 1978 R.C.D. College of Insurance, Tehran,
Certified Corporate Governance Trainer 2010 International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Honors & Awards
2006 Sitara-e-Imtiaz (S.I.), Civil Award – conferred by the President of Pakistan
2002 Honorary Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM),
1990 NZ Commemoration Medal conferred by the Queen of New Zealand
1989 Best Managers Award, Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, Pakistan
1988 Paul Harris Fellow – Rotary Foundation – Rotary International
1975 RCD Scholarship for Degree Program at RCD College of Insurance, Tehran
World Traveler
Mr. Fudda is married and is blessed with a son two grandson and a daughter. He and his wife have traveled to more than 130 countries in 7 Continents.