The newest recruit to our growing team is Murray Foggo, who joined us from AAB. In his role as an investment executive Murray supports the investment team in identifying, evaluating and executing investment opportunities, while working closely with portfolio companies to drive long-term value creation.
Murray’s taken on the challenge of talking about himself in 10 questions so you can learn more about his experience and what drives him.
What is the most unusual place your job has taken you?
This is probably a toss-up between visiting a fish processing factory during production or spending an afternoon travelling back and forth on a ferry as part of testing work during my audit training. Both were certainly memorable experiences for very different reasons.
What is one lesson from your career so far that has stayed with you?
Early in my career, I had to re-sit a couple of exams. At the time, it felt difficult to imagine going through that process again, but by staying persistent and continuing to work hard, I got there in the end. It reinforced the importance of resilience and consistency — a mindset that I think applies throughout your career.
What first drew you to the kind of work you do?
I was doing my audit training when I became more aware of the growth advisory aspect of accountancy and saw the opportunity to add more value in that specialist role. Creativity in audit is generally not a good thing! Creativity when identifying opportunities or areas with potential for expansion is, and that’s something I find genuinely exciting. You can have a lot of autonomy, driving your own way in your own style.
What is one skill that has been particularly valuable in your career?
Regardless of the role, communication is incredibly important, and I’m thinking mostly of transparency and managing expectations. Everyone is trusted to manage tasks and projects, so taking ownership while keeping others informed on progress helps build trust across the team. It also allows colleagues to focus on their own priorities more effectively if I have anticipated what they need to know and communicated well.
What is a recent development in the industry that excites you?
There’s no denying that the rise of AI is exciting. It may be a common answer at the moment, but the ability to analyse large data sets and significantly reduce time spent on previously manual processes has huge potential. It allows teams to focus more of their energy on higher-value and strategic work.
What hobby or interest has helped shape the way you approach your job?
I enjoy playing golf, which has taught me a lot about patience. In work, problems are not always solved overnight and sometimes require a significant amount of time and persistence to reach the right solution. Staying patient and continuing to work through challenges is something I’ve found valuable in both golf and my career.
What personal quality do you think is most important for success in your role?
I think having a willingness to learn is essential. There is so much information and data available that it’s impossible to be an expert in everything. Taking the time to properly research challenges and opportunities is important if you want to fully understand the situation in front of you and make informed decisions.
What motivates you when you are working on a challenging project?
I find it motivating when a team is working towards a shared goal. There is satisfaction in contributing individually, but it’s especially rewarding to see what can be achieved collectively when everyone plays their part.
What’s the best piece of work-related advice you have received?
One piece of advice I received on my first day of work has always stayed with me: you will spend a large part of your life working, so it’s important to genuinely enjoy what you do. A big part of that for me is researching new or emerging topics. It can be a challenge when delving into something because you don’t know how long it will take to learn what you need to know. It’s a process I really enjoy though. For example, I’ve recently been getting into the world of energy supply and now know my distributed network operators from my independent connection providers!
Tell us about someone you know personally who has inspired you?
It probably sounds a bit cheesy, but I’d say my family. They’ve always set a great example through their work ethic and attitude, and that’s definitely shaped the way I approach both work and life.