Lex Van Dam, Simon Dixon, Mike Harris Banking And Finance Millionaires Event
Lex Van Dam, Simon Dixon, Mike Harris Banking And Finance Millionaires Event
“I cant afford it, I’m broke” he said.
…to which I responded “broke is a mindset”
He says “Broke Is a Fact!”
This intrigued me, so I did an experiment.
The other week was really interesting.
In one day I spoke to a Banking & Finance billionaire…
…a millionaire…
…a million pound bonus CEO…
…a six figure salary Investment Banker…
…200 interns at most major banks…
…7 graduates on my facebook group that could not get a job…
…and 1 student that said he was too broke to invest in one of my training programs.
Now although this is a normal week for me in my line of business,
but this time I was looking through different glasses.
I remember what it was like to be short of cash, but broke has never been in my vocabulary.
Even when I had £100,000 debt, I still thought I was rich.
Everybody else thought I was deluded.
I spent and spent and spent on training, business ideas, professional qualifications and things that I knew would further my life.
I have never used the words “I can’t afford it”, because it is so limited in terms of mindset.
…so when I had a conversation with a student that said he could not afford it, he was offended by my broke is a mindset comment.
And it set my brain thinking that particular day…
What is the difference between a Banking & Finance billionaire…
…a Banking & Finance millionaire…
…a £100,000 salary in Banking & Finance…
…a £25,000 salary in Banking & Finance…
…and broke with a Banking & Finance Masters?
Interesting?
…so interesting, I thought I would share the results with you here…
So, I decided to speak to them all in one day.
First, the broke student.
His belief was that money is scarce…
…and that he is ‘just’ a student…
…and students don’t have money!
When I was a student I was self funded, had a job and owned a business because I wanted to have all the money I needed at uni.
Just because I was a student, didn’t mean I wanted to be broke for a second.
Why did we both have two different realities?
Interesting?
A few hours later I met an Investment Banker with regards to raising finance for a private equity deal.
I don’t know for sure, but my guess is that he might be on £100,000 plus bonus.
As an Investment Banker, you get to meet serious business geniuses and Venture Capitalists.
In my Investment Banking days, When I was raising finance for them, I always used to ask myself “How did you start this”
I was always curious about the founder, how it began, the inspiration, the vision and the mission behind the idea.
This particular Investment Banker never thought about those things.
He was focused on sealing the deal and moving to the next stage.
Interesting?
I then got on the phone to my business partner Peter Hargreaves, he owns Hargreaves Lansdown, a FTSE listed Wealth Management Company with his own personal net worth of £500 million, in the Times Rich List.
I was excited about a new project I was working on in October where I was going to run a Bank sponsored day for students and graduates who want to work in Banking & Finance with all proceeds going to a charity I am a volunteer and fundraiser for called “Peace One Day”.
The day is going to hook students and graduates up with the biggest influencers in Banking & Finance and tell them about new opportunity in the new economy with billionaires and inspiring leaders. (Put November 22nd in your diary)
Immediately Peter asked me about how profitable the event will be. I told him I don’t know, he said get back to me when you have thought about it.
Interesting?
Then on the same day I met Mike Harris, who created three multi billion pound businesses in a row, two of them in Banking and Finance.
I asked him about two of his Banking & Finance businesses…
…he told me they were both born out of his mission to “Transform Banking”.
In his mission to transform banking, he created First Direct, the first telephone bank and Egg, the first online bank.
I asked him, how do you create a multi billion pound business.
His response…
“You need to have a mission, you need to transform something, you need to revolutionise, you need passion”
There was a bit more to the four hour conversation than that, but that is the essence.
Interesting?
I immediately gave Mike Harris a value proposition and we agreed to do a consultancy swap for half a day each.
We agreed that I would consult him for half a day on my value proposition and he’ll consult me for half a day on building an iconic brand.
(I’ll teach you how to get a result like this in another conversation!)
To which I immediately accepted.
Consulting from a multi billionaire on building an iconic brand…
Result 
Then later that evening I went to a party I had organised with over 200 interns from every major Bank in the world.
‘The Banking & Finance VIP Party’
At the party there were a few people that didn’t recognise me and asked me where I was interning.
I told them I owned Benedix and I was here to meet and network with my clients who have secured their first job in Banking & Finance and discuss next steps to turn it into more.
He was shocked!
He though I was too young to own a company.
Interesting?
I spoke to hundreds of interns that evening from Goldmans, Citi, Deutsche, Barclays Capital and every major bank.
The theme of their conversation with me…?
Simon, how can I turn this into a full time offer and they were buzzing over the £25-£35k salary they were receiving.
Interesting?
You see, I could of told them about how to build an iconic multi billion pound brand, from the conversation I was having earlier that day, but there mind was not thinking higher than getting the £30k job.
Interesting?
So what is the point in all this, Simon?
OK.
The results of my interesting day?
We get paid what we believe we should be paid.
We tend to earn the same amount of money as the people we spend most of our time with.
We all have unlimited potential, but limited beliefs.
What if I introduced the broke student to the billionaire and they hung out for three months.
Do you think the broke student might see things differently, meet some new contacts, be introduced to a new way of thinking, come up with an idea?
They say our income is the average of the 5 people we spend most of our time with.
The Take away
Billionaires think differently from millionaires…
…millionaires think differently from £100k salaries…
£100k salaries think differently from £25k salaries…
£25k salaries think differently from broke students.
Students who can afford our programs think differently from those who can’t?
So we all have unlimited potential, but the only thing that determines our result is our belief.
Mike Harris believes he can transform.
And he transforms.
Peter Hargreaves believes profit is king.
And he profits in a huge way.
The Investment Banker believes he can seal the deal.
And he sealed the deal.
The interns believe £25k is amazing.
And they got their internship.
The student that can’t afford to invest in the training to get his career moving believes he is broke.
And he still has not enrolled on my Banking & Finance Professional Program, to get a different result.
I believe anything is possible, we have unlimited potential and everything is belief, combined with strategy.
Get the belief and strategy right and anything can be done.
The strategy comes from those who have achieved the result you want to achieve.
Nowhere else.
The belief is from within.
But there are ways of increasing your belief.
Hang out with those who believe differently.
Skeptics are controlled by fear.
Opportunists, feel the fear and do it anyway.
Being skeptical is easy.
Taking a risk means you grow and learn.
You risk looking foolish if it goes wrong, but the alternative is being a skeptic and never trying.
Opportunists have the same fear.
But that fear is the fear of not achieving the result they want.
That fear drives both the skeptic and the opportunist.
They both get different results.
I think it’s interesting anyway?
Surround yourself with people who have the result you want and eventually you will have that result.
Please comment and let me know your thoughts.
To your success
Simon
Written by traderjames
Question by Mike: Canadian investment banker salary compared to American salary?
Best answer:
Answer by hyper-capitalist
Depends on the city in both countries. Cost of living differs by city, so you need to be city specific.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
Categories: Investment Banker Salary Tags: Banking, Dixon, Event, figure salary, finance, Harris, lex van dam, Mike, Millionaires, Simon, simon dixon
Leasing Finance by Islamic Banks
Leasing Finance by Islamic Banks
Ijarah Financing
Ijarah has huge potential as a financing mode for Islamic banks. It can be used for meeting the needs of retail, corporate and the public sectors and can also play a crucial role in promoting Islamic finance industry. Leasing is an attractive mode of investment for Islamic banks for the following reasons:
a) Assets acquired under these contracts are usually of high quality, marketable, maintain their market value well above book value, are movable and are easily disposable for cash in case of default.
b) Because of the good quality of the asset, the bank, as lessor, does not have to depend so much on the creditworthiness of the lessee, since it always has the recourse of selling the asset in case of default.
c) It is possible for the banks to get variable and floating return on long term investments.
Ijarah can be used directly for plants a machinery, autos, housing and consumer durables and indirectly for sukuk issues by the corporate and the government sectors. It can be used to develop different contracts and sukuk that may suit different purposes of issuers and the sukuk holders. Public and private sector corporations can use the securitisation on the basis of ijarah as alternative tool to interest based borrowing provided they have durable and useable assets. Ijarah is conducive to the formation of fixed assets and medium and long-term investments in an economy. Ijarah Sukuk will be discussed in detail in the Module on Treasury and Capital Market Operations dealing with Islamic Financial Markets.
Leasing and investment
As an asset-based lending is a permitted form of debt-financing in Islam, ijarah provides an alternative to interest-based investment in assets for the Islamic banks.The goods in which the investment is to be made are not purchased by the actualuser, but by the bank or a finance company, and are made available to thecontracting partner for commercial use subject to payment of a lease rental which isthe investment return. This form of financing offers Islamic banks various benefits,such as:
• Secured investment, thus reducing credit risks. Because of the good quality of the asset, the bank does not have to depend so much on the creditworthiness of the lessee client, since it always has the recourse of selling the asset in case of default.
• Assets acquired are usually of high quality, marketable, maintain their market value well above the book value, are moveable and are easily disposable for cash in case of default.
• Although it is a longer-term financing instrument, a leasing contract can be reviewed periodically. The financing party thus not tied down to a fixed return that may not be in its investment goals. The rent can be tied to any type of index agreed to.
• Clear basis of calculation returns over the term of the lease period
• Scope for new investments
• Tax benefits for both parties
Islamic banks are able to offer leasing certificates to their depositor clients as specific investment certificates as a form of declining equity. Lease payments include two elements: capital repayments and profit. If both of these are refunded to the certificate holder, net of bank costs, the depositor client recoups part of the capital (the client’s deposit) as the lease gets closer to the end of its term. But it is possible to design certificates which pay the holder dividends only; so that the bank can reinvest the incoming capital repayments in other lease contracts.
Ijarah Muntahia-bi-tamleek (Ijarah wal Iqtina)
Ijarah Munahia-bi-tamleek (Ijarah-wa-iktana) is variation of the leasing method and similar to ijarah except that, included in the contract, is a promise from the lessee to buy the leased asset at a pre-agreed price; rentals paid during the lease term constitute part of the purchase price and the final sale being for a token sum. Ijarah shares many common features with lease financing and operating lease / hirepurchase arrangements. It involves a lessor (usually a financial institution) purchasing an asset and renting it to a lessee for a specific time period at an agreed rental and at the end of the lease period transferring the ownership of the asset to the lessee.
Islamic banks are using Ijarah Muntahia-bi-tamleek as an alternative to a hire purchase and finance lease. It is an arrangement in which leasing is the real and the major contract that is subject to all rules of an ordinary operating ijarah contract where the standard Shari´ah principles of lease, its terms and essential prerequisites of the contract have to be observed. The transfer of the asset ownership to the lessee at the end of the lease term is kept separate. It does not comprise two contracts in one bargain; rather, the real bargain is only one whereby the lessor leases the asset and fixes the rentals in such a way that during the lease period the repayment of the cost of the asset and the rental for leasing the asset are received.
Both parties agree on this nature of the transaction; and the other part of the deal is only a unilateral promise not binding on the promissee and as such it is not a transaction until actually entered into by the parties. Further, this arrangement is fair and based on justice for both the parties in that the lessee, who has paid the cost along with the rentals, is able to get ownership title of the asset at the end of the lease period, while the lessor recovers cost of the leased asset and also the profit in the form of rentals. However, the lessee is under an obligation to buy the asset at the end of the lease term.
As owner of the asset, the bank should take out takaful cover to insure the leased assets. Islamic banks normally include the takaful expenses in acquisition cost of the asset for determining the rental. Shari´ah scholars allow this on the ground that rentals in leases are subject to mutual consent of the two parties and if the lessee agrees to the amount of rental, the contract would be acceptable from a Shari´ah perspective. As regards the insurable interest, it rightly belongs to the bank as lessor.
However, the AAOIFI recommends that in case the transfer of ownership becomes impossible without any cause attributable to the lessee (the client), the lessee must be protected from the loss by the lessor paying to the lessee (client) the difference between the rent received as per the lease agreement and the market rentals of such assets.
If the asset is destroyed, and there is proof for lack of observance of the conditions of the takaful policy that bars the bank as lessor from recovery of an insurance claim from the takaful company, the lessee client is held liable. In the absence of any fault or negligence on the part of the lessee client, the bank bears all responsibility for damage to or loss of the leased asset. If the claim paid by the takaful company is less than the loss incurred by Islamic bank, the uncovered loss cannot be charged to the lessee and the bank would bear the loss.
In this way, Islamic banks and financial institution have tried to transform the conventional lease structure to make it Shari´ah compliant. The arrangement, broadly speaking, comprises two contracts entered into at different times: One contract is an ordinary lease contract, where the Shari´ah principles of defining the asset to be leased, its terms and essential prerequisites of contracts are observed. The lessee pays, in addition to the rental, a sum which goes towards buying the leased property.
The other subsequent contract is a contract for gift or sale of the leased asset at the end of the lease period and is independent of the earlier lease contract. Although the rentals to be stipulated in the lease agreements have to be clearly known and fixed, but the actual and net rental income of the banks might not be fixed and predetermined. The Shari´ah principle is that risk cannot be separated from ownership; hence, as the leased asset remains in bank’s ownership, the bank must remain liable for the asset. Furthermore, the lease and sale transactions are contracts of two different nature; they must be kept separate and independent of each other to avoid the prohibition of two inter-dependent / conditional contracts that also has the connotation of a sale and buy back arrangement. If the above two aspects are taken care of, the Islamic banks can adopt any procedure for leasing the assets, mitigating the risks and transferring ownership to the lessee through any of the approved methods.
Written by Zia Ahmed
Investment Banker, Islamic Banker
Question by Carina G: Any reserves hlad by a commercial bank in excess of the legal minimum, are called?
a. required reserves
b. legal reserves
c. excess reserves
d. fiat money
e. vault money
My guess would’ve been a. Please verify it for me.
Best answer:
Answer by Royal Horse
Excess Reserves
Give your answer to this question below!
Categories: Commercial Bank Tags: Banks, finance, Islamic, islamic banks, Leasing, private sector corporations
Will Small Business Finance Be the Next Big Bank Lending Problem?
Will Small Business Finance Be the Next Big Bank Lending Problem?
Commercial lending to small businesses is already on life support based on a number of business financing statistics. Commercial banking companies in many instances would have failed some time ago without government bailouts. As bad as that perspective might sound, this report will provide an even more negative outlook for the future of working capital financing and small business finance programs. Overall it currently appears that commercial loans represent the next big problem for banks and other lenders.
During the past year or so, several banking problems have received significant publicity. These difficulties were largely related to the rising number of home foreclosures which in turn caused a ripple effect involving various investments tied to home loans. Such investments lost value so rapidly that they became known as toxic assets. When banks stopped making many loans (including small business financing), the federal government provided bailout funding to many banks to enable them to keep operating. While most observers would argue that the bailouts were made with the implicit understanding that bank lending would resume in some normal fashion, the banks seem to be hoarding these taxpayer-provided funds for a rainy day. By almost any objective standard, commercial lending activities have all but abandoned small business finance needs.
Based on recent commercial banking statistics, it seems that small business financing is already the next big problem for many banks. In part this is due to the general decline in commercial real estate values during the past several years. This has resulted in some significant bankruptcies when many large commercial property owners have been unable to either make their commercial mortgage payments or refinance debt (or both). While these difficulties were predominantly happening with large real estate companies and did not regularly involve small businesses, the resulting bank losses are clearly having an impact now on commercial lending to small business owners.
Much like the residential mortgage toxic assets caused banks to stop normal lending because of a shortage of capital, commercial banking losses on large commercial real estate loans are already causing many banks to stop or reduce their small business finance activities. The bank losses from large commercial property investors are producing a ripple effect that has caused small business financing to effectively disappear until further notice. While small business owners did not cause this problem, they are suffering the immediate consequences when banks are unable or unwilling to provide normal levels of commercial financing to them.
As with many complex situations, one problem will lead to another. The failure to obtain normal business financing will most likely lead to an increasing number of commercial loan defaults by small businesses. Prudent business owners should begin to take action now in a timely manner to avoid such negative consequences. With proper actions, the biggest small business finance problems can be anticipated and avoided.
Stephen Bush and AEX Commercial Financing Group provide small business finance options for working capital financing, merchant cash advances and commercial loans throughout the United States.
Population issues
First Capital Renews DZ BANK Line For 0 Million
BOCA RATON, Fla. and NEW YORK — First Capital, a specialized commercial finance company, announced …
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Question by Karen: What should I wear for a job interview at a commercial bank?
I have been debating this for a while. I am leaning toward a skirt suit, but wondering what I should wear with it? I would love links to good sites as well as ideas on shoes, jewelry, etc.
I have a thin figure, reddish, auburn hair and green eyes. I was leaning toward a round toe heel with pantyhose? Is that appropriate or necessary or can I get away with bare legs. I find pantyhose to be really uncomfortable.
Any help you could provide would be great.
Best answer:
Answer by alwaysmoose
Look how the people who work there dress and dress one level above it.
Add your own answer in the comments!
