his investment company has become one of Kuwait’s most successful investment houses having doubled profits in 2003 to $34.8 million.
Formed 20 years ago to stimulate investment activity in the country, today the Securities House Company has a clear strategic vision, in line with a constantly changing world.

Success has been achieved by earning client trust and working together as partners

The company’s own fortunes did not always run so smoothly. Following the stock market crash in 1982, Securities House was saved by the government who moved to assume control of the investment firm.

As the market eventually stabilized the government once again signalled its intent to privatize the company. It was the management and clients of the company who came together and approached the government with a view to buying out its share of the business.

Today, the company has enjoyed great success and has never looked back. Diversification and integration are blended in order to reduce risk and increase profit and more importantly trust. Declares Ayman A. Boodai, Managing Director and Chairman of Securities House, “The clients’ interest comes first. When we introduce a product to our clients we believe in it and are not just marketing or selling something.”

AYMAN A. BOODAI Chairman & Managing Director of Securities House INTERVIEW

The investment house has also turned its attention to beyond its own borders. A subsidiary, Global Securities House, has been established as a foreign investment arm and has already tasted success in the U.S. and European real estate markets.The company is also eager to find new opportunities in other sectors.

Securities House rarely invests on the stock market. As Mr. Boodai boasts, “We create not just speculate.” Education companies, for example, have been established and presented as attractive packages for sale onto the market. Other companies are integrated so that together they can work as a self-sufficient unit.

The Securities House Company also prides itself on being a market builder. When prices rose too high in the industrial sector a couple of years ago the company bought a small cement factory. Today, the plant has been modernized and has gained a significant market share. As the company continues with its own investments these new subsidiaries come together and reduce the overall cost of the project.

Most of the incorporated industrial subsidiaries are today grouped together under Equipment Holding, which will be floated on the Kuwait Stock Exchange this year. “One of our main contributions to the financial markets in Kuwait is to introduce new companies to the stock market,” says Ibrahim Al-Ghanim, Deputy Chairman and Deputy Managing Director of the Commercial Companies Sector of Securities House.

By acquiring companies across a wide range of sectors, outside of heavy industry, Securities House is fulfilling its role as a market builder. The various companies, many of which will eventually be floated on the Kuwait Stock Exchange, not only diversify investor risk, but they also generate business for each other, and in turn develop the market.

The company is a big investor in education and healthcare, as they are seen by Securities House as representing the future of Kuwait. “We want to be a major player in health services,” says Mr. Al-Ghanim. With investments in two large private hospitals, the company is now planning, through a subsidiary, YIACO Medicals, to purchase small medical centers. Securities House believes that Kuwait has no shortage of skilled personnel to develop and run the health service to the highest possible international standards.

One of Securities House’s other success stories is New Technology Bottling Company, which has grown rapidly thanks to a contract to supply the U.S. army with bottled water. Says Managing Director, Ahmed Yousif Al-Ghanim, “The future for water bottling is very bright as there are only two companies in the business.” And, always thinking of their customers, the company has designed cartons that fit in schoolchildrens’ lunchboxes.

In a further show of the company’s diversity, Securities House has recently ventured into the telecommunications sector by establishing a company by the name of Streamlink Communications, specializing in satellite communications.

Securities House sees this market becoming increasingly competitive in the future and is confident of providing low cost services to the consumer.

Through a strong, trusting relationship with its clients, a desire to develop and build new and existing markets, and its eagerness to reduce costs wherever possible, the Securities House Company has proven itself to be one of Kuwait’s most dynamic and successful companies.