Rajiv Ramani

Louise Broekman:

Welcome to the Advisory Insights Interviews. My name’s Louise Broekman. I’m the founder of the Advisory Board Center, and I’m here with Community Chair and a leader in the advisory board sector in Asia. Rajiv Ramani, welcome, Rajiv.

Rajiv Ramani:

Thank you, Louise. Good to be here.

Louise Broekman:

Well, it’s going to be a great conversation to have today, not only about advisory boards, but also about advisory boards in the region itself. So perhaps to start with Rajiv, do you mind sharing a bit about your background?

Rajiv Ramani:

Certainly. So I’m a bean counter through and through, and it’s strange because at age 10 I had decided that I was going to be an accountant, and lo and behold, I am now, in terms of industry, primarily been with consumer goods. I spent 14 years with the Coca-Cola company in various roles and geographies, and thereafter I held regional finance leadership roles in Unilever and Coty. And with Coty I finished up with them as CFO for the Middle East before I returned to Singapore and took on the mantle of group CFO of Luxasia, which is the leading and largest omnichannel beauty distributor in the Asia Pacific. Interestingly enough, two years in, two years ago, I pivoted away from the corporate world into the private wealth management space into a single family office. So now I’m CFO of a single family office, and it’s an industry which is still, I would say in its infancy in Singapore, but certainly attracting a lot of attention and fast growing. So a lot’s going on in that space right now.

Louise Broekman:

Certainly interesting thinking about the growth and utilization of family offices all around the world, and that’s another big topic that I’m sure we’ll be having a chance to talk about it at some stage. Rajeev, your advisory board journey, do you mind sharing a bit about that and what have been the lessons that you’ve learned along the way?

Rajiv Ramani:

Sure. As I think about it, my advisory board journey actually started even before I heard about the Advisory Board Centre. My very first appointment was to cima the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants Industry advisory panel for the Asia Pacific back in 2012. And I was with them for about five years . I did the Certified Chair™ program and with that I had a couple of advisory gigs. One was pro bono and the other one was a paid advisory. And recently I’ve been appointed the panel of community advisors for Honest Singapore, which is a nonprofit which seeks to promote a culture of honor and honorable behavior in the belief that it is essential for the continuing peace, progress and prosperity of Singapore. So I’m certainly excited about that. It’s a two year appointment and really looking forward to contributing to that. In terms of lessons learned along the way, I would say hit “HIT”, it is important for honesty, integrity, and transparency.

So honesty and integrity I think go hand in hand and you need to be honest to yourself and to the stakeholders you engage with. And that builds certainly your integrity, transparency, transparency in all conversations, especially with the owner of the company and other stakeholders. But as we think about the me and the I as an advisor, I think also it is important to recognize your own expertise, your domain expertise, and how you would add value. That’s certainly how I like to look at it. And also to think about that how you behave, how you engage with your advisory engagement becomes very important. It’s also reflective of the community, the brand, the profile, et cetera, and knowing also what you can and can’t do. I mean, it’s one thing to say, yes, I can advise on A, B, and C, but whether you can deliver against it then goes against a black mark against your name.

So I have on many occasions said, don’t know I’m not the right person for it, but certainly I can help you look for the right person for that advisory gig. And sometimes that feedback then comes back, oh, but we have a great working relationship. There’s good chemistry. Why would I want someone else? I say, well, I’m not here for social engagement. It’s great that we get along. You want the subject matter expertise, and I know myself, I’m not a subject matter expert on that particular topic. That’s being honest because that then becomes a reflection of yourself as well as the community at large. So these I think would be lessons learned for me in my journey.

Louise Broekman:

They’re very important lessons too, Rajiv, when we look at the code of ethics about when is it we should be providing advice and when we shouldn’t. Having those ethical guidelines and boundaries around that and having your own moral compass to be able to do that because the market will ask you. So you need to be able to determine what is right. Indeed.

Rajiv Ramani:

Yes, indeed.

Louise Broekman:

Rajiv, the advisory board sector in Asia across Asia has doubled more than doubled since 2021. So it was 3% of the advisory board sector in the region. Now it’s 7%. Advisory boards are being used more commonly across Asia, but they don’t advertise those roles. And so I’d be really interested in your perspective around what’s happening in the advisory board sector across Asia.

Rajiv Ramani:

Yeah, so first things first, I think while we recognize 3% to 7%, let’s now zoom in on that 7%. That 7% is a small number, but it’s certainly one that’s fast growing. So I would say that overall, at least in the Southeast Asias perspective, it’s still in infancy. I think what we find is there’s a lot of mentors, consultants, friends who are more senior than you, been there done that, who can be a sounding board, that sort of thing. So maybe a little bit informal if you like, but the adoption of advisory boards is certainly growing, but the challenge is still getting people to understand the difference between a governance board and the advisory board.

Although the words that come out of your mouth could be advisory board, but the words that are going into the other side is governance board. So making that differentiation becomes very important. And I’ve certainly had many conversations around that to give those examples. There’s still a lot of education and awareness that needs to be done around that. And this depends on the audience. If you’re looking to a small business owner, SME, et cetera, the very notion of advisory board, and in their head they think it’s, oh, it’s four, six people sitting around a table, how much is that going to cost me when it is like, no, it doesn’t need to be that. It can be a one person, two person, et cetera. So there’s a lot of effort required in terms of the education and the wideness, but certainly I see that this is governance board have a lot on their plate. So they are happy, I would say, to outsource some of the problem solving aspects through an advisory board. And that advisory board has takes on the role of either project or corporatized or business sector.

So it’ll continue to evolve is what I would say where the education and awareness is required. I don’t think it’s not, it’s at the MNC levels, but more at small business and SMEs so that they understand that yes, there may be some cost involved, but it doesn’t need to be significant. But also the value that they’re going to get out of it is where it needs to be done. So that 7%, et cetera, will continue to grow. And because in its infancy, the shaping of the advisory board sector will continue being there. And I think what we may find in the next five to 10 years is Thailand has a certain way of doing it, Singapore has a certain way of doing it, then this Philippines and China, et cetera, et cetera. And everyone will sort of fall into some sort of a rhythm 10 years from today.

Louise Broekman:

Yes, it is certainly an interesting evolution. So at the point of where the market is today, Rajiv, what tips would you have for organizations and professionals considering advisory boards for the first time

Rajiv Ramani:

For the organization? I would say number one, don’t get an advisory board as a flavor of the month just because every other, Tom, Dick and Harry and Harry’s mother has got an advisory board, oh, I’m going to get one as well. Discuss, get views, what are your competitors doing? Why, et cetera. And then when speaking to an advisor or a confidant, then figure out whether you really need that advisory board or not. Number two, don’t get hung up on the word advisory board. Advisory board equals advisory panel council think tank. It can be a board of one. So that’s another thing. The third thing I would say is do not be Pennywise pound foolish.

Yes, there may be a cost involved, but the longer term impact could be a lot more than having that initial cost. Of course, for a business owner looking at his cash flows there, and then it’s probably a little bit tough, but that is an important consideration to make. And then the last thing is look at your advisor as someone who you can intellectually spar with, which means as a business owner, you need to be open and be prepared for some very honest feedback. So that would be the organization. Now for professionals, I would say this. Number one, be patient for your first advisory gig. It will come. You need to earn your spurs, your right people will recognize it and it will come.

Don’t try to force it. There seems to be a tendency of, I like paid gigs, I want paid gigs. Of course, who doesn’t? Right? But don’t shy away from the pro bono ones because the pro bono ones in my mind are a great practice ground for you to hone your skills as an advisor. It’s not as I would say, maybe as strenuous or stressful than in one, which is not continue to build your profile. And you do that by speaking to people. Once people know what you are, what you say, you have credibility, it will come. And the last thing I would say across that also is with any advisor, it’s always about the community. Yes, you are trying to build your profile, but you also, you are part of one. And also think of a team together, everyone achieves more. There’s more strength gained with a community than an individual. So those would be my tips to organizations as well as professionals.

Louise Broekman:

That’s very important words. Rajiv, thank you so much for sharing this, but also for your contribution in leading the Asia-based community out of Singapore. Being a community chair is a very important and contribution to the sector, so thank you for that. But also congratulations with honors Singapore. It’s a very worthy organization. I’m looking forward to hearing how you contribute to the ongoing development of such a worthy organization.

Rajiv Ramani:

Thank you. Thank you very much, Louise, and thanks for this chat. I look forward to seeing you at the Singapore summit in October.

Louise Broekman:

Will do. Thanks, Rajiv. We’ll see you soon.

Rajiv Ramani:

Thank you. Thank you very much.