Ratnah Tanakoor, Senior Business Development Manager, Sovereign Trust (Mauritius)
Ratnah Tanakoor spends her working hours thinking several moves ahead, from tomorrow to next quarter. Diving is the opposite: she says time disappears completely underwater. Ratnah is Senior Business Development Manager for Sovereign Mauritius, focused on the African continent and especially the Zambian, Zimbabwean and Nigerian markets. She spent years in private banking at Barclays and SBM before moving into cross-border structuring. Now she helps family businesses and entrepreneurs work through what she calls a VUCA world of shifting compliance and geopolitical risk. We talk to Ratnah about forward planning and why she needs the ocean to switch off.
- Can you tell us about your role as Senior Business Development Manager in Mauritius and what your day-to-day focus looks like?
The exciting side of business development is the lack of monotony; so there will be no routine per se as the constant focus remains on expanding Sovereign’s brand and footprint among intermediaries such as law firms, tax advisors, international financial advisors, wealth & estate managers and end clients. Given that I am based in Mauritius, my focus remains on the African continent with an emphasis on the Zambian, Zimbabwean, and Nigerian markets. The fun side is that my day-to-day is always about planning for what’s ahead be it for tomorrow, next week or the next month or quarter! So, as you can imagine, it involves a lot of zeal along with strategy.
- You’ve worked in both private banking and international corporate services – how have those experiences shaped your approach to business development?
The personalised and dedicated attention that I was shaped to always provide to my HNW and UHNW clients have shaped my approached in my BD role. I have been professionally moulded to adopt the philosophy of knowing and understanding my clients and stakeholders; and the key differentiator is to never stop until I have reached the point to finding reasonable solutions to any challenging situation or scenario. My previous roles have contributed to my versatility which tremendously help me to stay proactive and agile in the industry.
- Working with international families and businesses, what trends or priorities are you currently seeing when it comes to wealth planning and succession?
We are living in interesting times, to be concise, in a VUCA World where there is so much volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. While for a few families and their businesses, geopolitics is the challenge, for others it is the adoption of good practices in terms of compliance and governance. From the African market, I am increasingly seeing family businesses feeling the urge to comply with the international reporting standards if they are looking to expand, along with all the requirements imposed by the OECD or FATF. For others, it would be either relocating of businesses, or of the accumulated private wealth or simply to move to a different jurisdiction along with the family. In short, the need for robust offshore structuring solutions and relocation services is rising. But then again, there is no one-size-fits-all solution in this industry, hence our obligation remains in offering bespoke solutions to our clients.
- What do you find most rewarding – and most challenging – about helping clients navigate cross-border structures and long-term planning?
The most rewarding thing for me is watching clients’ businesses grow from one entrepreneur to going global.I am passionate about executing on the best structure for my clients. The most challenging for me is the paperwork that cross-border structures entail! Not only is it time consuming but different jurisdictions just have different requirements in terms of paperwork; so, you need to always have your head on your shoulders without missing anything because one missing documentation or a compliance step can be very costly to us and the end client!
- Outside of work, what do you enjoy doing to unwind?
Oh, hiking and diving help me to unwind all the time. I love how time just vanishes along with constant thoughts when you are down in water diving among colourful fishes and seeing live coral colonies. Hiking does the same thing for my overall well-being; and, oh, did I mention reading a good fiction too?!
