SCALING THE HEIGHTS OF SUCCESS AS A FINANCE PROFESSIONAL

The UAE has been a fertile ground for entrepreneurs and professionals, helping them bloom and prosper. One such story is that of R. Lakshmanan, Senior Partner at MCA Gulf. A Chartered Accountant, Cost Accountant and Company Secretary, Lakshmanan’s specialised fields are Corporate Finance and Corporate Strategy.

Born in 1968 in Kerala as the son of Reserve Bank of India officer PL Raman and homemaker Seethalakshmi, Lakshmanan was born and bred in Chennai. After schooling at Shrine Velankanni Senior Secondary School in Chennai, he did his BCom from Vivekananda College and M.Com from University of Madras. He began pursuing CA after his graduation, and later went on to do CS and ICWAI. In 2013 he did a global CEO program which has helped him careerwise.

Soon after his studies, he started working with Mohan Breweries & Distilleries in Secunderabad for nine months. In 1992, he joined L&T as Accounts Officer in their earth moving division in Bangalore. He quit that position to join United Distilleries in 1994 as Finance and Accounts Manager.

In 1996, he flew to Bahrain to work in KPMG in their Audit division. In 1998 he left for Oman to work in Alliance Housing Bank as Head of Internal Audit. He rose to be CFO, Head of Finance and acting CEO in the organisation till 2003.

He then moved to Dubai to work with Amlak Finance as Chief Retail & Risk Officer and remained second in command at the firm. In 2006, he joined a startup Islamic financial institution as CEO. He left after eight years to start Pyramid Specialised Management Consulting, a boutique consulting firm specialising in strategy and corporate finance.

In 2021, he bought a stake in MCA and rose to be Senior Partner. He is currently chairman of Institute of Company Secretaries of India - UAE chapter. He is a guest speaker at seminars across the world from UK and Spain to the GCC countries.

Coming from a middle-class family, Lakshmanan struggled initially; his hard work made him successful. He took risks, which led to his career growth. At the age of 38, he became the first Indian CEO for a financial institution owned by a local entity in Bahrain.

He is actively involved in social work, and his motto is to give back to the community and society what he has attained personally and professionally. He believes that keeping an open mind and being a lifelong learner is vital for achieving success.

Reading motivational leadership books, autobiographies, watching news and sports are his hobbies. He is also a tennis and badminton player.He was formerly Board Member of Waqf Fund for Islamic Finance Research, Education and Training owned by Central Bank of Bahrain and also Board Member of Bahrain Property Development Association.

He won the best Islamic Mortgage Provider for Bahrain. He was in the Advisory Board of Emirates International School (IB syllabus).

His wife, an MBA graduate from India, is a homemaker. He has two daughters and a son.