Talal was born and brought up in Kuwait. Hailing from a simple, middleclass family; he always had big dreams. He wanted to start his own business and reach great heights. However, his family was not very supportive of the idea since trading was seen as a risky business back then and not something to be pursued as a career. After doing a few jobs here and there, Talal realised his lifelong dream of owning a business. From being an employee to donning the hat of an employer, he has made quite a journey. A journey that should be shared and celebrated!
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Even though Talal graduated from Philadelphia University with a degree in Information Technology, his interest was always in the finance sector. To gain knowledge about the financial industry, he worked with a few financial companies. This allowed him to gain some knowledge about the investment business and the experience needed to take that plunge into his entrepreneurial journey.
He founded VI Markets in 2010 and his company went on to become the most recognized and leading Trading platforms in the Middle East. In the past 11 years, VI Markets has achieved great success. It was the first Kuwaiti company to get the licence from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Talal worked hard to get that. Today, VI Markets is one of the few companies that is regulated by the FCA and offers a global presence as a tailored online trading company. Vi Markets has also won the best partner in the World for five consecutive years with One Financial Market based in the UK. “I’m proud of my company VI Markets and what it had achieved in the past 11 years,” says Talal.
SKY IS THE LIMIT
Talal is a believer of this saying – ‘sky is the limit.’ In his words, “I always aspire to achieve greater things. I do achieve goals and set millions after it.” Achieving goals is what motivates him to go beyond. This is the reason he didn’t stop even after VI Markets was well-established. He started another initiative called Yasmeen. A forum exclusively for women, designed specifically to support women empowerment in business and the world of financial investment, through structured training and education on commerce and the world’s financial markets. It is a program in which presenters, workers, and the target audience are all women.
Although the primary focus of the program is on financial management and broking it is not solely focused on it because the research showed Talal that many women who entered the financial sector usually got into loans or banks without any basic foundation. This program thereby focuses on laying a strong foundation of the financial industry and educating women to choose the right path most suited for them.
It is a program dedicated to providing women in the Arabic world with services tailored specifically to their individual needs. Created for women, by women, Yasmeen focuses on the increasing number of financially active women in the Middle East who run their own businesses or manage their own investments. Yasmeen has social networks that allow women to share their experience in business with other women and that leads to more women getting inspired to pursue their career ambitions. It makes for an open, safe space to discuss challenges faced by the women.
EMPOWERING THROUGH EDUCATION
Educating and promoting awareness in people has been one of the main goals of Talal. Education has been important to him because when he entered the financial sector he also learnt by educating himself through whatever channel he could. He believes in educating not only those people who want to enter the financial sector as professionals but also masses who want to start trading and manage their portfolios.
At VI Markets, there is a huge array of educational resources that Talal offers in a bid to help aspiring people who want to enter this industry. “We strive to provide all those interested in online trading to join our free seminars and workshops held every week,” he shares. Due to the pandemic, most of the courses are now available online to accommodate the demand.
To further his reach and aid his awareness mission, social media has also been his ally. He has a follower base of over 64,000 followers on the social media platform Instagram, which mainly comprises Kuwaiti and Middle Eastern traders. He shares his daily trades and educates them on portfolio management through his account. “I believe in leading through educating. Educating my staff, my clients and all those interested in the financial markets was and will always be my main motto in life. Through education, you are empowering people and that is the main trait any leader should possess,” he asserts.
Mr. Talal believes in giving back to the society and helping the underserved get access to quality education. To further his cause of educating masses, he has built schools in Indonesia and even helped building schools and compounds to serve hundreds of children in India.
VALUING VALUES
VI Markets is a name to reckon with and it can all be credited to the business ethics of Talal. He believes in his team and they work together to provide the best-in-class services to all their clients. Talal swears by a few values that he has also ingrained in all his team members. These are transparency in carrying out deliverables, accountability in handling projects and fairness through the evaluation process.
Talal is a family man at heart. He credits his brother for wherever he has reached today. “My elder brother Mohammad is my biggest inspiration in life. He was my main supporter when I began this journey and I owe most of my success to him. He supported me by all means.”
GLORY ALL THE WAY
Talal has won many honours owing to his charismatic personality and his business ethics. He was chosen the ‘Most Inspiring Man’ by CP Magazine in 2018. He also earned a place in ‘The Arab Power List 2021’ among others. The future looks quite promising for him as he looks to build on his work and grow his business globally. He has a well established name in Kuwait and the Middle East and now would like to expand all across the globe.
