Aly-Khan Satchu is the founder and chief executive of Rich Management Limited, a Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) – authorised data vendor offering investment advisory services.
He’s a renown investor and author in finance with a passion for the development of Kenya and Africa as a whole.
He settled on the name Rich Management after an acquittance alluded that the African continent is poor.
“He was convinced Africa is poor, but I corrected him. Africa is going to be rich,
“What he missed is that, for the first time, there is a very speedy convergence with the world. Africa is a place of maximum opportunity. It’s a once-in-a-century moment,” Satchu stated during a past interview.
Over the course of his career, the financial investments guru has built his reputation by putting his money where his mouth is.
Background and Education
Satchu was born in Mombasa County, but raised in Nairobi and later in London.
He was sent to boarding school at the age of 13. His father wanted him to avoid studying law as a career because it had become the family norm, so he did not pursue la past university.
“From a young age, I knew I wanted to be a trader. The day I stepped into a trading floor, I realized this is what I want to be,” he said during a past interview with Capital FM.
According to his LinkedIn profile and bio on his website Rich.co.ke, the investments guru holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) degree from the University of Durham.
Career
He worked for various financial institutions between 1989 to 2002 in London, England, United Kingdom.
After completing his studies from the University of Durham, Satchu joined Credit Suisse First Boston (Emerging Markets) in 1989.
He was initially hired into the operations department on a temporary basis but quickly rose to a managerial role and served as the company’s vice president until 1995. He lived through the financial crisis in Latin America in 1994 at a time when he had lent more than $2 billion in that market.
In 1995, Satchu took with him 9 traders and joined Sumitomo Bank as Managing Director reporting to the Chairman Konishi San. He controlled a portfolio in excess of $17 billion (about Ksh1.8 trillion).
He served at the capacity for three years until he departed for ANZ Investment Bank in 1998 as the Treasurer and Director of all collateralized lending. He served for 1 year until 1999.
Satchu later joined Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein as Executive Director in 1999. He was in charge of Emerging Market Financing and Short Term Interest rates. He worked at the institution until 2002.
During his time in various banks, Satchu was given significant proprietary trading limits. He traded nearly all instruments- Futures, Options, Repos, Bills and Bonds, Basis trading among others.
From 2003, he plied his trade in the financial markets using his own capital, until his return to Kenya in 2006.
Rich Management
He arrived in Nairobi in August 2006 and founded the company.
Being an authorised NSE data vendor, Rich Management transmits level 1 prices from the securities exchange via their website during trading hours. The company also provides a daily commentary that covers international markets and Africa and distributes it to over 2000 highly qualified recipients.
Satchu also runs Mindspeak Business Club every month which hosts key CEOs and personalities.
He has consulted to a number of African Governments, to the World Bank and various Investment Funds. He is a regular feature on Aljazeera and CNBC and is an authoritative commentator on SSA and International markets.
Publications
Upon his return to Kenya in 2006, Satchu authored a book ‘Anyone can be Rich’. The book tells a lot about the author’s attitude to investment and his homeland.
“He’s a sharer: he believes that when everyone does well – individuals, organisations, countries – he stands to share in the benefits. And he really believes that the possibilities in Africa – and, in particular, Kenya – are huge,” journalist Dinfin Mulupi quotes the book by Satchu.
Scandals
In 2019, Satchu was caught up in an insider trading scandal involving the Ksh26 billion KenolKobil takeover by French company Rubis.
The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) seized Ksh458 million gains that the insider trading suspects stood to earn after buying the stock on the cheap from unsuspecting investors.
He was found guilty of insider trading and fined Ksh4.69 million, being the commissions he earned from the illegal trades, and ordered to serve a three-year ban.
He later appealed the case.
