For the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Utica Capital, Ola Belgore, reputation is more precious than riches. The investment professional, who has spent over two decades in Nigeria’s investment banking sub-sector, believes that the legacy of one’s family name must always stand taller than the pursuit of material possessions. Raised in a family where integrity, discipline, and public service were guiding values, Belgore drew heavily from the influence of his late uncle, Justice Mahmud Babatunde Belgore, whose principles shaped his outlook on life, business, and leadership. Belgore, who is driven by a restless quest for knowledge, in this conversation reflects on family, values, his career trajectory from microbiology to finance, investment, and his firm’s new film fund. Obinna Chima brings the excerpts:
You studied Microbiology before transitioning into finance. What inspired your career shift, and how has that shaped your professional journey?
Growing up, I was a bit smart with school and back in the day when you are beyond the average student, they automatically put you in science class. So, I was in science class, and in my school in Kwara and I was the best graduating student in my school. Out of the nine papers I took in Senior Secondary Certificate Examination, I had about eight As, and unfortunately, I missed one paper, and that one paper happened to be physics, for which I didn’t get a credit in. My uncle, who happened to be the Commissioner of Education in Kwara State at the time, happened to see my results even before me, and was excited and wanted me to study Medicine. I got admission to the University of Sokoto to study Microbiology, but because my uncle was bent on me studying medicine, eventually I got into the University of Lagos’ pre-degree programme. The idea was that from Microbiology second year, I would move to Medicine. But that didn’t happen. That explains why I ended up studying Microbiology, which was an eye-opener. Recently, the University of Lagos’ Faculty of Science had their 60th anniversary and the Dean of the Faculty proudly said that it is only science students you would find working in every other sphere of life. It’s rare to find a lawyer in science, to find a business administration graduate in a science and all that. But you can find scientists or science graduates everywhere. That is because science opens your mind to the world. It’s not necessarily narrowing it to the particular course. That is my story. But one instrumental event that could have channeled my focus into finance was the fact that, in my pre-NYSC year, there was a break in between and I had to intern with a stockbroking firm and I did well, because I had an incentive. So, I worked with them for a couple of months, and then I went for NYSC. By the time I finished NYSC, because I had made my mark a bit in the firm, they were happy to take me back immediately. That was TRW Stockbrokers. So, I didn’t have to go job-hunting, I just went back there to pick up a job, and from there I joined Meristem. Of course, since then I’ve taken chartered certifications and undertaken a lot of capacity building programmes.
With over two decades in the financial industry, how do you balance work, personal life, and continuous learning?
It can be tough, but they all go hand-in-hand. The purpose of work in itself is to be able to live a good life and provide for your family, so you ought not to let work affect your family. So of course, I find time to be with the family as much as possible, but I still focus on my work. Learning is a different ball game. For me, the day you stop learning is the day you die. So I’m big on learning in my organisation. In fact, everywhere I’ve worked, what my colleagues will tell you is that I’m big on knowledge. There’s no way I’ve worked that I have not instituted periodic internal training and knowledge sharing sessions. At Utica Capital, we have that happening twice a week – Tuesdays and Thursdays. I get our staff to take turns to train on any area of the world, the universe, just talk about anything. That is because for us as investment managers, we’re like lawyers. You must know a bit of everything because our clients are so diversified and they have different backgrounds and occupations. For me, one area I am restless about is the quest for knowledge. Apart from the fact that I read a lot of books, I set an annual target for the number of books I must read, even though it’s tough. The idea is that I have to read a book every month, and I make my colleagues read as well, and we review the book in the office.
I’m doing a doctoratal programme, Doctor of Business Administration at the University of Lagos, Business School, which today has spurred my cravings for writing.
Who have been your biggest influences or mentors, and how have they shaped your outlook on life and business?
The first person I must say is my late uncle and someone I also call my father, Justice Mahmud Babatunde Belgore, a former Federal High Court Chief Judge. He had such a big influence on me. Growing up, he was instrumental to how I got into the university. He was there for everybody in the family. He loved the family so much and he would do anything for any of us. The way we’re brought up, through his influence, was to recognise the fact that our family name was more important than any worldly accumulation or wealth. So, we were always mindful that whatever we’re doing, we have to be well-behaved because our name is unique. If they announce that Ola Belgore has done something wrong, it’s easy for people to trace it back to me within a few minutes, as opposed to if you were another person. His brother, Justice Alfa Belgore, and a whole lot of my uncles and elders, we all grew up knowing that the family name is more important than gold. They built such a reputation and name for themselves that the rest of us are always very careful how we handle that name so that we don’t do anything to tarnish it.
So, I was taught to love my family and be there for them, not only your nuclear family, but also your extended family and to be there for my friends as well because his friends also talk highly of him. In terms of the workplace, I’ve been lucky to have worked with great people who have influenced me. I talked about starting out at TRW Stockbrokers, Mr. Azubuike Okpalaoka was the Managing Director then and till this day. He was the one who built the foundation for where I am today, and was such a great guy who has a high level of ethics.
He shaped my view that integrity is important in the marketplace. Others I have worked with that really influenced me positively were Wole Abegunde of Meristem, Ike Chioke of Afrinvest, Wale Agbeyangi of Cordros Capital, and a whole lot of them.
How do you see Nigeria positioning itself in Africa’s emerging investment landscape?
Unfortunately, Nigeria has declined a bit in terms of its size in Africa. We used to be number one, followed by South Africa, but now we’re number four. This was due to mismanagement of the economy by leaders in the past. Nigeria, I dare say has everything to be a great nation and I think today we’re pushing towards that. We have the human capital required, the population and smart people as well. And you’ve seen the way Nigerians excel anywhere they go, in every field, anywhere in the world. So I think it’s about having the right people in government and the people doing the right thing. We also expect that with the difficult decisions this current government is taking, they should put human face to it and also practicing what you preach. You don’t say that the people need to endure the hardship of the economic reform while those in government are living large. So, I believe if we put all of those right policies in place, and I believe that this present government’s policies are the right policies to be taken at the moment, if those human face factor are put in place, the Nigerian economy should be able to retake its position in African economy.
From your experience, what are the most common mistakes people make in investment?
I would say that one mistake is following the Joneses. You heard that somebody made money from an investment and without doing proper research, you also stake your money. The best advice I’ve seen in investing is the one given by Warren Buffett, who says that you must always invest in what you know. Most people just put money down because they heard that a stock is performing well, without understanding the peculiarity of that investment. You need to know all these so that you’re able to manage your risk and your expectations. Sometimes, people don’t consult professionals and that was what was largely responsible for the 2007 stock market crash. Everybody, whether they know how it works or not, wanted to get into the capital market, buying stocks against professional advice. Also, you need to align your risk with your return expectation. If there is no alignment between the two, you could be investing in a security that is good, but you’re investing at the wrong time or pulling out at the wrong time.
Utica Capital recently launched new investment funds—what specific market gaps or opportunities inspired this move, and how do these funds align with your overall growth strategy?
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has just approved the Utica Film Fund. As the name suggests, it is a fund that is dedicated to the film sector. The Nigerian creative industry has not only brought Nigeria a lot of monies in the last couple of years, but has also given us a lot of visibility globally. Go to anywhere in the world today, at the airport or anywhere, once they see you as a Nigerian, they start asking you about the characters in Nigerian movies. Also, go to the remotest part of the world, or even the most conservative part of the world, like I got to a club in Dubai and they were blasting Nigerian. So, we identified the opportunities in that space and discovered that the creative sector is quite large. We felt that the film industry has a lot of potential and can create investment opportunities for our clients, and can help the economy by creating jobs. There’s a lot along the movie value chain. When you see a movie, there’s a lot that goes into it in terms of creating employment and empowerment for the youth. For instance, a movie is launched at the cinema, some printers produce flyers, it is an opportunity for them; there’s the popcorn maker, there’s a drink seller, and all of that. So there’s a whole lot of opportunities beyond just the film. And of course, in the film itself, there’s a lot of maybe temporary jobs and some form of public engagement. If you look at the films, like Jagunjagun and see how many people were engaged like foot soldiers, and all of that. And again, from the investors’ side, we are looking at the opportunity to provide investors with other alternative asset class. So, it’s not that everybody is putting money in treasury bills or bonds and all that. At Utica Capital, we are big on impact investing and we want to make an impact on the economy. So that’s what propelled us into doing the film fund. Of course, one of the things we set out to do when we were setting up the Utica Capital is that the promoters of Utica Capital have industry experience. For me I’ve been in the industry for more than two decades, and all of that. But when you’re setting up a new fund, people look at the new firm and its track record, forgetting that the people behind it may have 20 to 30 years of industry experience. So, we know that we do not have a competitive advantage in terms of years of experience for the firm, and so what we realised is that we’re still going to be competing with these guys who had amassed like 20 to 30 years’ experience in the industry, which kind of gives people confidence. So, we felt that the way we can create our competitive advantage is to provide our clients with a unique solution to their needs. What are the other guys not doing? Part of what we set out to do is to make as much as possible, we’re not going to do plain vanilla products. So our first fund, the Utica Custodian Fixed Income Fund, is the first blended insurance and finance fixed income fund approved by SEC. Also, for the film or movie fund, approved by SEC, it is the first of its kind. It is a venture capital fund. There was a lot of engagement with the regulator, to whom I must express my gratitude to. They were open to listening to us and coming up with ideas on how to structure it, to make it fit within the scope of their approval.
How is the film fund structured in terms of risk profile, asset classes, and target investors, and what makes it different from other funds in the market?
The Utica Film Fund is a venture capital fund. It is not for retail investors. It is for what is called qualified investors. By definition, qualified investors are people, in terms of number, who have more than N100 million in net assets, excluding the house that they live. So if all you have plus your house is N100 million, this fund is not for you, but for people who have good net assets and understand risk and investment and how they work hand in hand. Additionally, this requires individuals who can invest for the long term. It is a 10-year fund, but the tranche is five years. So, we’re looking for investors who have the minimum required – N5 million, N10 million, and can afford to leave that kind of money for five years. I’ve had a lot of engagement with the players in the film sector, and what they will tell you is that a film that you are seeing in the cinema today was not made yesterday. Some were made a year ago, and all of that. So sometimes they look at the timing, or even the time it takes to make them. So, we need patient capital. We need investors who can afford to invest money. It’s not like you bring money, we deploy it to a project, and then you pull out and the project fails. In terms of risk and return, there’s no investment without risk. Life itself is a risk. But what is important with risk is the ability to identify those risks and to have mitigants for the risks. So, we understand that while we do not necessarily know so much about the making of a film and all of that, what we’ve done is that we’ve partnered with industry experts who have done several films. So they’re going to form the advisory committee of the fund. We have legends like Richard Mofe Damijo, Femi Adebayo, amongst other names. These are people who are producers, the actors, the directors, in some cases, so they understand every aspect of the business of filmmaking. The structure is that once we raise the money and all of that, the project owners come to us, we do our vetting in house, and we bring in someone who works with us, who understands that sector as well, who will help with the screening and advisory committee who vets it and determine the value to be placed on it. From there, it goes to the Investment Committee. The Investment Committee is also composed of very experienced asset managers. All these helps in reducing the risk that is involved and hopefully optimising the return well.
What is your long-term vision for Utica Capital?
We started out as a funds and portfolio management firm. We were going to go beyond that. We are going to get an issuing house license. Presently, some clients are approaching us to ask if we can help them raise capital and all of that. We are going to have a trustee firm and stockbroking firm as well, so that in one shop we can cater full for our clients and create a financial supermarket within the brand name. But we’re taking it slow and steady because we have to establish ourselves in each of these places. We’ve done very well in the funds and portfolio management aspect of the business. Our track record, if you have an opportunity to look at our financials, has been fantastic. We’re going to be five years this year, and we seem to have done well. Our stakeholders are happy with us, but we can do a whole lot better. We are an innovative company. But what we want to be known for is the most innovative company in Nigeria. Our focus is on impact investing. We don’t just want to make money for ourselves or even for our clients; we want to make impact as we make the money. We have a very relaxed working environment, which makes it difficult for our employees to leave. They are happy here, even though we know people would always leave for greener pastures. Our goal is that by the tenth year, as a firm, we should have built our Utica Towers, whose design I already have and we would be one of the biggest and most innovative impact investing firms in Nigeria, if not beyond.
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