The Sovereign Stories initiative is all about making connections. Here’s one to ponder. What connects Sovereign’s Wirral office, Sainsbury’s in London and far off Nepal high in the Himalayas? We chatted to Sabita Dayani, Operations Liaison Officer at the Wirral office, to learn the answer and to find out more about one of our most well travelled colleagues.
Sabita was born (she won’t say when!) and brought up in Nepal, sometimes called “the Roof of the World”. After moving to London to complete her studies, her first job was at Sainsbury’s in the capital where she was a Customer Services Assistant. It wasn’t long before she moved to Dubai where she embarked upon a career in financial services.
After more than six years in Dubai, Sabita’s work involved QROPS and resulted in a meeting with senior Sovereign people including Gerry Kelly (now CEO of the entire Group).
“Oh” said Gerry “you’re just the sort of person we need”. Although she didn’t realise it that day, he was being deadly serious. After subsequently deciding to apply to Sovereign, within weeks Sabita joined the Dubai office in February 2014. During the same year Sabita and husband Majid welcomed their son Essa, an event she describes as “the greatest achievement of their lives”.
Sabita’s first role was Pensions Administration Manager at Sovereign Corporate Services in Dubai. Eight years on, she considers Sovereign her second home and points out that the business supports its staff in all their offices. They encourage staff development every step of the way; Sabita was about to prove it.
In order to give their son the best education possible, Sabita and Majid started considering a transfer to the UK. In 2016 Sovereign acquired the business that has grown into Sovereign Pension Services (UK) Limited, now one of the largest offices in the Group. Sabita grabbed the opportunity and in 2018 moved with her family to Wirral making her one of the longer serving employees of that team today.
Sabita has completed exams for both the ACCA and CII (pension-related). Sabita does not of course provide advice, but the background knowledge acquired during her studies proves invaluable when speaking to intermediaries and clients alike. It is important to demonstrate, she says, that she “can understand what the clients are asking for”.
As Operations Liaison Officer one day is never quite like the next. Most of Sabita’s time is spent dealing with IFAs and other client intermediaries. Additionally, she connects with both Sovereign business development staff worldwide and individual clients / pension holders. Sabita describes her role as being a contact point for customers and their advisers when questions arise about their pension or (on odd occasions) should something occur that needs escalating.
Sabita loves living on the Wirral. She and her family have made their home in Birkenhead close to the tunnel underneath the River Mersey to Liverpool, one of the world’s music capitals. She confesses, however, that her visits to the city are mainly limited to shopping!
Away from work and when family duties allow, Sabita is passionate about cooking and “feeding people”. Apart from the Himalayan cuisine learnt during childhood, her mother in law has taught her the delights of Hyderabad food (Majid’s home state). It is no surprise to learn that she is a very keen traveller and has visited much more of the world than most. But there is a lot still to see and she is very keen to see it!
Sabita describes herself as being somewhat shy and that she would like to work on her confidence when speaking in public. From our delightful conversation with her, we’d say she has nothing to worry about. This charming lady demonstrates all that is good about Sovereign. From Kathmandu to Sainsbury’s, Dubai to the Wirral, hers is a fascinating story. Our thanks and best wishes for the future to Sabita and her family.
