"On top of this, it’s important to be mindful as a business that a lot of the staff can be mentally affected with ongoing and prolonged effects of the pandemic and the lockdown."
Michael Kodari is the Founder and CEO of Kodari Securities (KOSEC), a leading provider of investment services to a substantial and diversified client base, including corporations and ultra-high net worth individuals. With over a decade of experience in funds management and stockbroking, Michael has worked with some of the world’s leading value investors and financial institutions. A philanthropist and a prominent expert in the stock market, CNBC Asia has referred to him as “the brightest 21st-century entrepreneur in wealth management”.
KOSEC – Kodari Securities is a leading provider of investment services to a substantial and diversified client base, including corporations and ultra-high net worth individuals. Established in 2010, KOSEC exists to empower and equip investors with the best investment opportunities, knowledge, tools, and resources, as well as providing the highest level of product/service offering to help them make better and more informed investment decisions.
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Table of Contents
Who has been the most influential person(s) in your life and how did they impact you? How did that lead to where you are today?
Michael Kodari: I would say my dad was very influential in my life. He always told us to do the right thing and that whatever we do, do it really well and importantly, do the right thing by other people. He also taught us that making money is hard and that making an honest living isn’t easy – there are no shortcuts. And coming from a migrant family, my dad always encouraged me to put 100% towards everything I did – and by watching him work hard and commit to everything he did, he really did set the standard.
2020 was a challenging year for all of us, particularly for businesses. How did the pandemic impact your business? Please list some of the problems that you faced, and how you handled them.
Michael Kodari: Yes in some ways the pandemic made it easier, but in other ways it has made it tougher. In the way, it’s made it easier is that more people became interested in the stock market and investing. But what made it challenging, like many other businesses, is that we couldn’t operate from an office as usual. Recruiting was also more tough in a remote environment.
On top of this, it’s important to be mindful as a business that a lot of the staff can be mentally affected with ongoing and prolonged effects of the pandemic and the lockdown.
This is why it’s important to focus a lot on building a culture that’s supportive. Your staff might not be able to see their families during lockdown and international border closures, which means you need to give them as much support as possible. So taking the time to create a more empathetic and flexible environment, I think is the key.
The pandemic led to a myriad of cultural side effects, including one that was quite unexpected that is informally known as “The Great Resignation”. Did this widespread trend affect you in any way?
Michael Kodari: At Kosec our staff are pretty happy, because we’ve proactively made an effort to create that supportive environment. We also pay our staff competitive salaries and also offer exciting career progression opportunities that help support staff retention. But sometimes a person’s decision to leave a position can be emotional, rather than logical. Perhaps they want to try new things, change careers or work in a different country. Whatever decision our staff members make, we support them and wish them well on the next steps of their career journey.
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According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4 million Americans quit their jobs in July 2021. How do you feel about this trend? Explain.
Michael Kodari: I think the world is changing, there’s a lot of money flowing around, and there are people including baby boomers who have made money easier, faster, and more independently of their traditional ‘9 to 5.’ As they retire and support their kids financially they are providing them with more options. So traditional, rigid employment structures may be losing their appeal. The rise of assets such as Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies hasn’t helped either as people want things faster and have less patience. This is why organisations see no choice but a need to start embracing a more flexible approach to the ‘future of work’ to also keep up with the current generation’s mentality. The challenge lies, however, in trying to maintain a strong and thriving company culture that supports staff retention and feeling of belonging while being surrounded by like-minded people which you would get in the traditional office environment while balancing remote and hybrid models of work.
I think we’ll also see a big shift with AI will play a bigger role in organisational and operational efficiency. This will put less pressure on organisations to constantly hire, as they can now support business growth through the power of technology and not just through headcount.
According to a study by Harvard Business Review, Employees between 30 and 45 years old have had the greatest increase in resignation rates, with an average increase of more than 20% between 2020 and 2021. That can be quite an alarming rate. What advice would you share to increase employee retention?
Michael Kodari: The 30 to 45 age bracket is quite an interesting one, where you’re most likely perusing social media and seeing a lot of seemingly exceptional displays of ‘career success’ and ‘displays of wealth’ and thinking, ‘I’m not where I had wanted to be at this point in my life.’ It’s so easy to be swayed into thinking the grass is greener on the other side. But the reality is, what you see on social media isn’t always a true reflection of reality.
There’s also a new generation with a ‘make money fast’ mentality, who are dabbling in cryptocurrency or social selling, and determined to become rich quickly. They’re disillusioned with the traditional routes of full-time employment. But running a business, building wealth, and making money is hard work. In the first four years in a business, you’d be lucky to break even, and it can take 6 or 7 years before things start to accelerate. This is why most people quit.
And I think careers are the same. It’s like business. To be successful at anything you do, you’ve got to be there for the long haul and keep trying. But unfortunately, a lot of people see other people’s lives on social media and they think that ‘maybe if I do the same, I’ll get results.’ This sort of short-termism just doesn’t work.
According to a Nature Human behavior study, In 2020, 80% of US workers reported feeling that they have too many things to do and not enough time to do them – a phenomenon known as “time poverty”. What is your take on the work-life balance? Explain.
Michael Kodari: Work-life balance is an interesting thing and every individual’s take on what ‘balance’ means is different. Personally, I feel if you want to do really well at work, you need to put more energy and resources and hard work towards achieving results. Take a bodybuilder as an example. They’re 100% dedicated to their sport, measure everything they eat, and work out hours and hours a day. To many people, that’s quite extreme and a bit unbalanced. But to the bodybuilder, it’s the way they need to dedicate themselves to achieve their goals.
I often speak to young talent who say ‘I want to make $300,000’, and when I tell them exactly what it takes to achieve that, they’re often shocked at how hard they will have to work to achieve it. But in those initial business or career-building stages, there’s always going to be a little ‘unbalance’ until you get to where you want to be.
A more recent survey by Joblist asked about 3,000 respondents if they’re actively thinking about leaving their job. That survey found that 73% of 2,099 respondents who answered this question on their employment plans are considering quitting. How are you preparing for the future to counter this potentially persistent problem?
Michael Kodari: As mentioned in Question 3, it’s important to focus a lot on building a culture that’s supportive. So your staff might not be able to see their families during lockdown and international border closures, which means you need to give them as much support as possible. So taking the time to create a more supportive and empathetic environment, I think is the key.
Also, in countries where there’s a rise in talent shortage, it’s important to consider leveraging the offshore talent economy. Finally, as previously mentioned, scaling through the power of technology and AI, not just through headcount will also be a way to counter labor shortage problems moving forward.
Thank you for all that, our readers are grateful for your insightful comments! Now, if the Great Resignation isn’t your greatest concern, what is the #1 most pressing challenge you’re trying to solve in your business right now?
Michael Kodari: As mentioned in question 3, what made it challenging, like many other businesses, is that we couldn’t operate from an office as usual. Recruiting was also tougher in a remote environment. On top of this, it’s important to be mindful as a business that a lot of the staff can be mentally affected by the ongoing and prolonged effects of the pandemic and the lockdown.
This is why it’s important to focus a lot on building a culture that’s supportive. Your staff might not be able to see their families during lockdown and international border closures, which means you need to give them as much support as possible. So taking the time to create a more empathetic and flexible environment, I think is the key.
Mike Weiss, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Michael Kodari for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Michael Kodari or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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