Why Budgeting Feels Like a Superpower When Done the Right Way: A Resource Guide

Budgeting

 

Budgeting is often seen as restrictive, but when done correctly, it feels like a superpower. It gives you control over your finances, ensures your goals align with your income, and paves the way to financial freedom. In Nigeria, where the economic environment can be unpredictable, having a solid budget empowers individuals and families to make informed decisions, avoid debt traps, and maximize opportunities for wealth creation.

 

The Power of Budgeting in Personal Finance

 

Budgeting is the foundation of financial literacy and personal finance management. It helps you track income, expenses, and savings, ensuring every naira is purposefully allocated. Without budgeting, financial goals become blurry, and achieving financial security feels like a distant dream.

 

A well-thought-out budget enhances clarity and confidence, especially in a challenging economic landscape like Nigeria’s. According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, inflation remains a concern, with many households struggling to manage rising costs. Budgeting bridges the gap, empowering you to prioritize essentials, save for the future, and invest wisely.

 

How to Budget the Right Way

 

  1. Track Your Income and Expenses

 

Understand how much money comes in and goes out monthly. List all sources of income and every expense category. Using tools like FSDH Asset Management’s investment app simplifies tracking and helps identify spending patterns.

 

  1. Set Realistic Financial Goals

 

A strong budget aligns your spending with your goals. Whether saving for a home, starting a mutual fund, or building an emergency fund, set goals that inspire you.

 

  1. Distinguish Between Wants and Needs

 

In a consumer-driven economy like Lagos, it’s easy to overspend on non-essentials. Budgeting helps you differentiate between must-haves and luxuries.

 

  1. Allocate Money for Savings and Investments

 

A portion of your income should go toward savings and investment platforms. Mutual funds are an excellent option for steady returns with low risks. Partnering with asset management companies in Lagos like FSDH Asset Management ensures professional guidance and portfolio management services tailored to your needs.

 

  1. Review and Adjust Regularly

 

Budgets aren’t static; they need regular adjustments to reflect changing income, expenses, or financial goals. Review your budget monthly to stay on track.

Why Budgeting Feels Empowering

 

  1. Gives You Financial Freedom

 

A budget ensures you’re not living paycheck to paycheck. It allows you to make long-term financial decisions confidently.

 

  1. Boosts Financial Security

 

Knowing your expenses are covered and savings are growing provides peace of mind. This financial safety net shields you during unforeseen circumstances.

 

  1. Improves Return on Investment

 

Budgeting helps you identify surplus funds that can be invested in mutual funds, stocks, or other financial instruments, maximizing returns.

 

  1. Increases Financial Literacy

 

Creating a budget enhances your understanding of personal finance. It also highlights opportunities for growth, such as exploring financial advisory firms in Nigeria.

 

  1. Prepares You for Opportunities

 

A good budget positions you to take advantage of investment opportunities. Whether it’s purchasing stocks or exploring new business ventures, you’re always ready.

Risks and Challenges in Budgeting

 

  1. Overestimating Income

 

Overestimating your earnings can lead to unsustainable spending habits. Be realistic about what you can afford.

 

  1. Ignoring Emergencies

 

Budgeting without an emergency fund can derail your plans. Always allocate funds for unexpected expenses.

 

  1. Poor Investment Decisions

 

Investing without guidance can result in poor returns. Collaborate with asset management companies like FSDH Asset Management for expert advice.

 

  1. Unrealistic Goals

 

Setting unattainable goals can demotivate you. Always break larger goals into smaller, manageable milestones.

 

The Role of FSDH Asset Management in Wealth Creation

 

FSDH Asset Management stands out as one of the top financial advisory firms in Nigeria. With expertise in mutual funds, portfolio management services, and funds management, the company provides customized solutions for clients across Lagos and beyond. Whether you’re new to investing or a seasoned investor, FSDH offers tools, resources, and expertise to ensure optimal interest and returns.

 

By leveraging FSDH’s investment platform, clients gain access to diverse financial instruments and market insights. With a focus on transparency, FSDH Asset Management ensures every client understands the risks and benefits associated with their investments.

Practical Steps to Start Budgeting Today

 

  1. Download an investment app to monitor your finances easily.
  2. Create a monthly budget using simple tools or templates.
  3. Open a mutual fund account with an asset management company in Lagos, like FSDH Asset Management.
  4. Allocate funds toward high-priority goals and emergencies.
  5. Review your budget every month and adjust as needed.

Final Thoughts

 

Budgeting is more than a financial tool; it’s a lifestyle that empowers you to achieve financial security and freedom. By partnering with trusted institutions like FSDH Asset Management, you can enhance your financial literacy and grow your wealth strategically.

 

Take charge of your personal finance journey and experience the confidence of knowing every naira is working toward your goals. Whether you’re focused on mutual funds, portfolio management services, or achieving higher returns, budgeting done right can transform your life.

 

Partner with FSDH Asset Management – Grow Your Wealth Strategically with FSDH’s Expert Investment Solutions. Contact us today at [email protected], 0201 700 8900, or visit https://www.fsdhaml.com/ to learn more.

Head, Internal Control

Paul Babatunde

BACKGROUND

Paul Babatunde is the Head of Internal Control at FSDH Asset Management Ltd. He has over 15 years of experience in the financial services industry. He began his career in 2008 as a Credit Processing Officer with the United Bank for Africa PIc. He later served as the team lead for Group Shared Services Helodesk and further moved through the ranks, serving in other capacities such as Fund Transfers, Payment Investigations Lead e.t.c. He joined Coronation Merchant Bank in 2016 as an Internal Control Officer and was later drafted to the Internal Audit division as a team lead in 2017, a position which he held until July 2019 when he joined Anchoria Asset Management Ltd as the Head – Compliance, Risk Management and Internal Control. He proceeded to Core Financial Group in 2020, where he served in the capacity of Group Head – Risk Management, Compliance and Internal Control, overseeing the activities of the Stock-broking, Asset management and DC subsidiaries of the group. Paul is a sponsored individual of the Securities and Exchange Commishion and holds a Bs in Accounting from the Lagos State University as well as the ISO 27001:2013 Lead Auditor certification as issued by the British Standards Institute.

Paul is a great achiever having led and delivered remarkably in his roles in the banking industry and capital markets. He has uncovered and resolved salient issues in his capacity within the Compliance, Risk Management and Internal Audit functions. He has also implemented several initiatives on process improvement, controls enhancement and risk management across various financial services institutions.

Head, Compliance

Adedayo Bello

BACKGROUND

Adedayo joined FSDH Asset Management team in 2021 as the Chief Compliance officer, where he coordinates all the regulatory and statutory Compliance of the Company. Prior to joining FSDH Asset Management Limited, he has worked with notable Financial Institutions within the Capital market.

He is a finance professional with over 15 years of experience in Investment Banking. He was Head Compliance at AIICO Capital Limited, and equally functioned as Internal Control Officer, Acting Team Lead, Investment/Treasury Operations, and member of a Reconciliation Team in the same organization.

He commenced his Financial Institution journey/career at United Capital Securities Limited, a subsidiary of United Capital PLC (Formerly UBA Capital) where he worked in various units like Operations, Reconciliation & Resolutions, and Business Development departments.

Adedayo holds a B.Sc. in Geology from University of Ado-Ekiti and Masters’ degree in Exploration Geophysics from Federal University of Technology, Akure. He is an accredited Compliance Officer with the Securities and Exchange Commission as Sponsored Individual.

Head, Operations

Chinedu Nnadi

BACKGROUND

Chinedu Nnadi holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Statistics from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State. He is currently running his Post-Graduate Diploma in the University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos.

Chinedu is an Operations Specialist spanning over 17 (seventeen) years beginning from Union Systems Limited where he worked as the Systems Support/Analyst before joining the Operations Unit of Asset & Resource Management Co. Ltd (ARM Investment Managers). His time at ARM was one in which he was a key member of the Operations Unit where he was involved in organization-wide process improvement with his involvement in the Business Process Review (BPR) which identified inefficiencies and proposed improvements that led to timely execution of Strategic and Tactical transformation. This review greatly impacted on process efficiency, overall organizational effectiveness through transformation of resources, migration and adoption of relevant Information Technology tools for Operational efficiency.

He later joined Nova Asset Management Limited (NOVAMBL) as the Team Lead, Capital Market Operations where He was responsible for setting up of the Operations unit from the onset, from there, he joined FSDH Asset Management Limited where he currently sits as the Head of Operations.

Chinedu is vastly skilled and knowledgeable in the Nigerian Asset Management Operations and Regulations. Business Optimization, Process automation and Transaction processing, systems re-engineering. He is a driver of technology and operational initiatives.

He is happily married and has undergone professional trainings on Personal Improvements, Systems and Process Improvements, Financial Market Fundamentals.

Chief Investment Officer

Taofik Oyeniyi

BACKGROUND

Taofik Oyeniyi is the Chief Investment Officer at FSDH Asset Management Limited. He has over two and half decades of experience in the financial services industry across Treasury/Money market activities, Funds management, Balance Sheet and Liquidity Management, Business Development, Credit Analysis, and Structuring.

He started his Banking career in 1997 as an Executive Trainee at Equity Bank after a brief stint as an investment Officer at Compass Finance and Investment. He grew to the position of Chief Dealer before joining Intercontinental Bank as a Regional Head of Treasury in the Treasury and Investment Banking Division. In 2005. He joined Skye High Financial Services in 2010 as an Executive Partner and Division Head of Treasury and Funds Management. He worked in this capacity up until joining TAJ Bank as the Treasurer and Divisional Head of Treasury and Investment in 2019. He joined Radix Pension Managers in 2021 as the Divisional Head of Investment and Treasury.  He was responsible at Radix for formulating the overall Investment strategy for all funds managed, supervising Portfolio Managers in various investment activities, and ensuring funds are invested in line with asset allocation.

Taofik is a graduate of Business Administration and a holder of   MBA (Finance Major) degree from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. He is a Chartered Accountant (ACA), an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), and a CFA Chartered Holder.

Chief Financial Officer

Funmi Olutebo

BACKGROUND

Funmilayo Oletubo is a finance professional with years of experience in business strategy, financial and performance management, liquidity management, operations control, risk management, taxation, project management and process optimization.

She is the Chief Financial Officer at FSDH Asset Management Limited “FSDH AM’”, where she acts as a strategic business partner for creating value and executing the firm’s financial strategies.

Before joining FSDH AM, Funmilayo started her career with Integrated Software Services Limited where she gained extensive knowledge for driving the efficiency of business with technology and financial solutions. She shortly after joined Chapel Hill Denham as an Investment Officer where she rose through the ranks to become an Assistant Vice President, finance and operations supporting the Investment Management, Securities Trading, Investment Banking and Trusteeship businesses. She was responsible for coordinating several responsibilities as: budget preparation, financial reporting and analysis, consolidated financial reporting, external audit liaison, management performance reviews, regulatory reporting, automation and system enhancement, asset and liability management, alternative fund accounting, investment accounting, standard operating policy development and compliance with the International Financial Reporting Standards {IFRS}.

She holds a BSc in Applied Accounting and Accounting from Oxford Brookes University, Glasgow, United Kingdom and Babcock University, Ilishan Remo, Nigeria respectively. She is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN).

She is happily married, passionate about socio-economic development and runs an NGO aimed at supporting the less privileged.

Head, Sales, FSDH Asset Management

Margaret Agbonlahor

BACKGROUND

Margaret joined the FSDH Asset Management team in 2020 as the Head of Sales, where she drives the various market segments; HNIs, Institutions and Retail. She has over 20 years of banking experience, with expertise in Sales, Business Development, Marketing and Portfolio Management. She is also an approved Corporate Client adviser. Before she joined FSDH, Margaret was a Team Lead for Core Banking Finacle Software Application change at Infosys, Bangalore India. She has garnered a deep understanding of the Fixed Income, Money Market and Equities Market, and attended several courses on Wealth and Portfolio Management. She holds a BSc. in Business Administration from the University of Benin and an MBA from the University of Lagos.

Non-Executive Director, FSDH Asset Management

Nike Ogunjimi

BACKGROUND

Nike is a finance professional with over 18 years of experience in investment management, financial advisory and commercial banking.

Over the span of her career, she has worked at several leading firms in the Nigeria financial services industry. She is currently a Director at Kuramo Capital Management where she focuses on investment management and investor relations activities. Prior to Kuramo, Nike was part of the Client Solutions team at Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria and provided financial advisory solutions to the bank’s local blue-chip clients.

She also worked at Afrinvest Limited and, as a senior member of the Investment Banking team, she led the execution of numerous headline M&A mandates for notable Nigerian companies. She was a member of the firm’s Management Team and had oversight responsibility for the Finance unit, alongside her investment banking duties.

Nike has also worked at ARM Investment Managers where, as part of the Investment Management team, she was responsible for covering various sectors on the Nigerian Stock Exchange as well as international financial markets. She holds a BSc. Insurance from University of Lagos, Nigeria and an MSc. Finance from University of Leicester, UK.

Managing Director, FSDH Asset Management

Toyin Owolabi

BACKGROUND

Mr. Owolabi has over 20 years of banking experience and is the Group Head of Financial Institutions, responsible for developing and managing the relationship with all non-bank financial institutions and other institutional clients. Before joining FSDH, he worked at FCMB and at different times oversaw Financial Institutions, Correspondent Banking and Structured Funding. He was also the Head of treasury at IMB international Bank. Mr. Owolabi’s educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture from the University of Ilorin and an MBA from Business School Netherlands. He has attended numerous local and international courses and in addition to financial institutions, was responsible for wealth management and correspondent banking at FSDH Merchant Bank.

Non-Executive Director, FSDH Asset Management

Kelechi Okoro

BACKGROUND

Kelechi was at Argentil Capital Partners where he originated and executed infrastructure transactions. Prior to Argentil, he worked with the Infrastructure and Natural Resources Group of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and at ARM Investment Managers (with ~USD 2bn AUM), both in Nigeria. He holds a Bachelor’s in Human Physiology from the University of Ibadan, and an M.B.A. from Lagos Business School. He serves as a Non-Executive Director.

Non-Executive Director, FSDH Asset Management

Yasmin Belo-Osagie

BACKGROUND

She was a border in England before proceeding to Princeton where she graduated cum laude in History (major) and Finance (minor) in 2011. She attended Le Cordon Bleu (a hospitality education institution), in Paris and London. She studied at Harvard Law School and at Stanford Graduate School of Business, graduating with a JD/MBA in 2019. After her graduation from Princeton, Belo-Osagie worked with McKinsey & Company as a business analyst till 2013. While at McKinsey & Company, she met Afua Osei with whom she co-founded She Leads Africa. She serves as a Non-Executive Director with FSDH Asset Management Limited.

Non-Executive Director FSDH Asset Management

Folashade Ogunde

BACKGROUND

Mrs. Folashade Ogunde graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Economics from the University of Ife (1984) (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife). She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) (2005) and an associate member of the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) (2015). She started her professional career with the firm of Deloitte Haskins & Sells (Chartered Accountants), where she gained accounting and audit experience, and had a stint in Treasury Management at Bancroll Savings & Loans Limited (1993 to 1995) and International Funding Group (Nig.) Limited (1991 to 1992) before joining UAC of Nigeria Plc in 1997. She has held such positions as Management Accountant, UAC Foods; Divisional Commercial Director, Mr. Bigg’s (now UAC Restaurants), Group Treasurer, UAC of Nigeria Plc and Executive Director, Finance at UACN Property and Development Company.

Chairman, FSDH Asset Management

Folashade Laoye

BACKGROUND

She is a graduate of University of Lagos (BSc Accounting, 1990) and qualified as an Associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales in 1995 and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria in 1997. She trained with Coopers & Lybrand, UK (now PricewaterHouseCoopers) from 1991 to 1995 and worked with the Corporate Finance Unit of First Securities Discount House (“FSDH”) from 1995 to 1997. She holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. She has been instrumental in charting the growth strategy of Hygeia for several years. She serves as the Chairman of the FSDH Asset Management Limited Board of Directors.