Mohamed Taymour

When Mohamed Taymour first launched his company, Anwar El Sadat was in power, mobile phones were not yet introduced and the Egyptian stock market was barely functioning. 
But Taymour, who earned a doctorate degree from the prestigious Dartmouth College in the United States and a bachelor’s of science in industrial engineering from Cairo University, was more discerning than other businessmen. He could see the potential of investment in Egypt. So, in 1980, Taymour and two partners, Hani El Emary and Mohamed Fouda, started a financial service company, Egyptian Financial Group, to help investors identify and obtain financing for projects at a scale up to par with that era’s type of development in Egypt. At that time, he says, EFG was still in a phase economy affected by socialistic ideas.
“Our aim was to establish a premier financial service company,” says the 57-year-old Chairman of the Egyptian Capital Market Association and chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt’s Capital Market & Stock Exchange. “What I have achieved at the end is much larger than what I thought I would achieve when I started.”

Part of what he has achieved is the status of consultant to the government. He advises both private institutions and governments on subjects ranging from privatization and development banking institutions in Egypt, the United States and Kuwait. His company, EFG-Hermes, Egypt’s largest investment banking group, is the result of a merger between EFG (of Egyptian Financial Group) and Hermes Financial. Its asset management division manages six local mutual funds and three offshore funds. With assets under management exceeding E£2.0 billion (US $580 million, the company is listed on the London and Cairo stock exchanges and employs more than 330 people.

“Today, we are the largest by far in our field, where we have the largest brokerage companies,” says Taymour, who is quick to note his successes. “ Our two companies together cover up 18 to 19 percent of the market, which means twice the size of [our competitors]. In asset management, we are also very large, where we are competing with Concord International… As for the investment banking services, we are once again by far the largest. In private equity we are also very strong, where we have grown from 20 people in 1991 and 92, to about 350 today.”

When EFG first began, it reveled in highs and suffered through lows. For three or four years, it did very well. But then the Egyptian economy went to a downward phase. Foreign investors began to shun Egypt, and the late 1980s provided difficult times for Taymour and his associates. “We passed by some very difficult times in the late Eighties,” he says.

When the Egyptian government enforced a new policy to open up the Egyptian economy and increase privatization — a policy that was dictated by international pressure and by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) — EFG was able to expand its services and work on privatization programs. Soon after, brokerage houses as share holding companies were established, which regulated the way funds and portfolio management was handled. By 1994, EFG established a brokerage house and fund management company. 

The new phase allowed EFG to grow tremendously in terms of staff and projects. “Two partners left in the 1980s when times were hard. I then started a policy that was extremely rewarding, and, [therefore, attracted] young, attractive and well-educated people.” 
To draw in talented and skilled employees, he offered his new staff a partnership in the company. The result was a large, adept staff who became his partners. 
Taymour credits his merger with Hermes as an important process in the development in EFG. “In 1996, we started negotiating with Alaa Sab’a and Ali Al Tahry to merge our two companies. They had a smaller company than ours, but we thought they had the right attributes and attitude, so we merged the two companies and became EFG-Hermes. That turned out to be a very important step that contributed a lot in the expansion of our company.”

Successes aside, Taymour didn’t get where he is today by simply counting his blessings. He is aware of possible shortcomings, and he keeps his eye on his competitors.
“Competition in Egypt is becoming more and more stiff, and foreign countries are coming more and more into Egypt. All of our major competitors have been either been acquired or went into joint ventures with foreign giants. We are still the only purely independent brokerage firm in Egypt,” he says. 
Taymour says his company will retain its independence, but acknowledges the company’s foreign shareholders. “We are listed on the London stock exchange and we did offer 40 percent of our stock exchange shares in the international market.”
Much like he did 20 years ago, Taymour envisions the future of Egypt and plans accordingly.
“My goal is for Egypt to become an international financial center,” he says. “We cannot really compete with the New York Stock Exchange, but we certainly must be the number one financial center in our area.” 

To achieve his goal, Taymour says EFG-Hermes is beginning to expand outside Egypt. EFG-Hermes already has a lot of work in Jordan and Algeria, and it has visited Syria, Iran and Sudan. Soon, the company will be establishing branches outside Cairo.
His next step is to come up with a scheme that would enhance the savings capabilities of the common man in Egypt. Taymour says he would like every person in Egypt to be able to contribute to a savings plan that would direct money into the capital market. 

“This is something that exists in all developed countries and many developing countries like Morocco and Tunisia, where they are able to offer certain incentives for people to invest into the capital market, which ultimately reflects on the economy, and brings more money to be invested in it. We still do not have this in Egypt, but we are pushing it and working really hard, with the cooperation of the government. We want to allow Egyptians to save in an organized fashion, in instruments that would ultimately invest in security’s advancement,” says Taymour.
His goal is not an easy task, but Taymour remains optimistic. “The government is really enthusiastic,” says Taymour.