2018 CFO Awards

10 Acquisition International - 2018 CFO Awards GCF18018 Best Ship Industry CFO 2018 - UAE Rizwan Chowdhari Drawing on his immense background in finance and the defence industry, Rizwan has worked with many of the biggest names across these two markets, supporting them and driving them to excellence. He discusses his prior experience in detail and provides us with a fascinating insight into how he came to achieve the role of CFO for a number of top-level firms. “Personally, my career began when I became an auditor for KPMG following the completion of my BBA Degree and CPA qualification. At KPMG I worked with major clients like the Al Futtaim Group. Since then, after completing my MBA and two levels of the CFA program, I worked for Abraaj Capital in the field of Private Equity before I joined The National Investor in Abu Dhabi in their Merchant Banking Division, where I mainly worked on and led various Equity and Debt Capital market deals. For the past 12 years I have been part of the Mubadala group in the Aerospace, Defense Services and Technology platform in Abu Dhabi where I have concentrated on various corporate finance (i.e. green field investments, divestments, joint ventures, acquisitions), financial reporting, governance and restructuring initiatives primarily for the companies owned by Mubadala. It is with this background that I was seconded to Abu Dhabi Shipbuilding in early 2015 as the company at the time was financially and operationally underperforming, was over staffed, and needed a complete revamp. I took on the role of CFO for the organization and was directly responsible for the Finance, Accounting, Supply Chain and IT functions. Along with the regular day to day CFO activities, I led a cross-functional team to implement an organizationaltransformationexercisethatincluded revamping and alignment of the Company’s reporting structure, organizational structure, delegation of authority, and processes and procedures. I further initiated and implemented a complete IT system overhaul to achieve alignment, reduce the number of operating platforms, and upgrade the company’s infrastructure and security. This transformation drive that commenced in 2015, has led to a considerable increase in business efficiencies, resulting in three years of significant net profitability, with the Company achieving a net profit of AED104 million in the most recently concluded financial year compared to a loss of AED128 million in 2014.” Recently, Rizwan finished a three-year role at ADSB, a United Arab Emirates Public Joint Stock Company which is owned 40% by Mubadala Rizwan Chowdhari is an experienced ship industry CFO who recently worked with Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) for over three years. Having recognised Rizwan in our prestigious Global CFO Awards, we decided to invite him to tell us more about his work and the secrets behind his success. Contact: Rizwan Chowdhari Address: POBox 956090, Abu Dhabi, UAE Phone: 00971 55 666 8161 Rizwan Chowdhari