A Guide to Managing Wealth in Uncertain Times for Company Owners

Now more than ever, a conflict exists between the personal wealth of company shareholders and the company itself. Decisions that focus on maximizing personal wealth of shareholders in the short to medium term may have an adverse affect on the company itself. Nonetheless, given the fluidity of the current situation, you can only plan for the short to medium term.

The continuous devaluation of the Egyptian pound has created a precarious situation when it comes to the management of personal wealth of company owners. While we've seen company owners display an aversion to transactions involving their companies due to the reduced valuations in USD terms, we actually encourage company owners to cash out part of their companies if the company's revenues are mainly in EGP. If you're a company owner, consider this: what growth rate does your company have to have in order to match the value of devaluation of the pound so that it retains its value in USD at least? We have advised our clients and prospects to squeeze out minority shares from their EGP-based business and convert it into a relatively liquid real asset. While each case may be different due to potential company growth rates as well as export potential, this is the best approach that company owners can do to protect the value of their personal wealth against inflation.

Squeeze liquidity out of your EGP-based business and place it in something that is inflation protected. That's the right way to go.