Muhammad Arif Habib ( ur, ; b. 1953) is a Pakistani business magnate and stock market trader who is the founder of the Arif Habib Group. As of 2012, Arif Habib Group had 11,000 employees and annual revenue of

Rs. Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...

100 billion. He also serves as member of Boards of Governors of

Karachi School of Business and Leadership The Karachi School of Business and Leadership (KSBL) is a premier and HEC recognized independent degree awarding business school located in the heart of Karachi, Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur ...

(KSBL).

Early life

Habib was born to a

Memon Memon may refer to: Ethnic group and language * Memon people, an ethnic group originating in the ancient Sindh (modern day Pakistan) * Memoni language, the language of Memon people historically associated with Kathiawar, Gujarat, India People wit ...

family in Karachi as the youngest of nine siblings. His family were from

Bantva Bantva or Bantwa, is a small town in Saurashtra region of the state of Gujarat in India. Geography Bantva is located at an altitude of 20 meters. Nearby towns are Nanadiya, Limbuda, Nakara Manavadar, Vanthali, Junagadh, Keshod, Visavadar, Ku ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, where they owned a

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

venture and several properties. Following the

independence of Pakistan The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the per ...

in 1947, they left behind their businesses and migrated to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. He enjoys

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and is a noted philanthropist, serving as a trustee of organisations such as Fatimid Foundation and Memon Health and Education Foundation, and as director of the

Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy The Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP) is an independent not-for-profit support organisation based in Islamabad, Pakistan. Founded in 2001, PCP is promoting indigenous philanthropy for social development across the country, and is probably ...

(PCP) and Karachi Education Initiative.

Business career

In 1970, at the young age of 17, Habib began his career as a

stockbroker A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks an ...

at the

Karachi Stock Exchange The Karachi Stock Exchange ( ur, or PSX-KSE) was a stock exchange located in Karachi, Pakistan. Since 1947, it has been located at the Stock Exchange Building on I. I. Chundrigar Road. It has now been consolidated in the Pakistan Stock Exchan ...

(KSE), hired by his elder brother who bought a trading license. His monthly salary was 60 rupees. He spent his days in the trading hall analysing shares and statements for investors, which he credits as having contributed to his knowledge of stocks. In 1992, Habib was voted president of the KSE and he computerised the stock trading system. He was elected president of the KSE five more times. His reforms accelerated trade and he expanded his business. In 2000, he founded Pakistan's second

asset management Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of value from the things that a group or entity is responsible for, over their whole life cycles. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as buildings ...

company which currently manages over $430 million (Rs. 49 billion). With Pakistan's state-owned companies undergoing a process of

privatisation Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

at that time, Habib bought stakes in fertiliser, cement and steel production, as well as banking. Since 2004, his business has invested over $2 billion into these various sectors. In 2008, regulatory curbs on stock trading as a result of the

financial crisis of 2007–2008 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...

resulted in Habib's stock clients defaulting, as the

KSE 100 Index The KSE-100 Index is a stock index acting as a benchmark to compare prices on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) over a period. In determining representative companies to compute the index on, companies with the highest market capitalization are ...

fell by 48% within two months. However, his business recovered following a rise in corporate earnings. In addition to his role at KSE, Habib was a founding member of the

Central Depository Company Central Depository Company of Pakistan (CDC) is a Pakistani central securities depository company which provides services for equity, debt and other financial instruments. It was founded in 1993 and is based in Karachi, Pakistan. The current CE ...

. He has also served as a member of the Privatisation Commission, Board of Investment, and the Securities and Exchange Ordinance Review Committee. The

government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provin ...

has appointed him into the

board of governors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organi ...

for several companies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Habib, Arif Muhammad 1953 births Businesspeople from Karachi Living people Memon people Pakistani chief executives Pakistani investors Pakistani people of Gujarati descent Pakistani philanthropists Pakistani stock traders