10 On The Weekend is a weekly (-ish) feature in IMI, the concept of which is simple: Each time, we ask the same ten questions of a different IMI Pro, letting readers get to know the interviewee on a more personal and informal level than they might during the ordinary course of business.
Our guest this week is Ryan Darmanin, Chief Operations Officer at Latitude.
How do you spend your weekends?
My week is highly structured, almost 90% routine. My weekends are the opposite.
Mostly unstructured, guided by curiosity and the moment. I thrive on routine during the week, early mornings for reading as part of the 5 am club (internet off), back stretches, getting my daughter to the school bus, gym, and then driving to the office (internet on and already talking to Eric, Lee, Alex, or Brandon).
On weekends, I follow whatever feels right in the moment: Time with family and friends, quiet reflection early in the morning before the gang is up, or thinking through business challenges and opportunities that need strategizing.
This balance helps me recharge and approach the week ahead with clarity for myself and for our Latitude team.
What are your three top business goals this year?
I cannot share everything, otherwise my colleagues Eric, Chris, and Jon might be on the next flight to Malta to keep me quiet!
First, it’s our people; everything we aspire to at Latitude revolves around our team.
We are rewarding our experienced staff, attracting top talent, and expanding our client base, with many of our clients referring others because they trust in the experience our people have provided.
Another priority is a project we call LV, the “Louis Vuitton of the industry” (an insider joke), paving the way to be the market-leading boutique advisory firm for success.
Lastly, we are implementing the “LOS”, Latitude Operating System, to simplify, digitize, and automate our processes, ensuring our team has the tools to continue to deliver an exceptional client experience.
What’s your biggest business concern right now?
Judging by world-renowned brand names such as Kodak, Nokia, and Blackberry, you are either innovating or you are dying.
While all seem to be making a comeback, I would rather the story I tell my grandchildren is that we stayed at the top of our game, innovating and putting our people first.
My biggest business concern is finding the right balance between sprinting and running the marathon. We often hear this is a marathon, but sometimes you need to sprint before you stride.
Perfect decisions only exist in hindsight, but I trust our team’s stamina and creativity to navigate both.
What book is on your nightstand right now?
Thanks to my wife’s introduction to Robin Sharma, there is always one of his books on my nightstand.
The monk who sold his Ferrari had a profound impact on both my personal and professional life. I also recommend and gift his books to my team, as part of nurturing a growth culture at Latitude.
Currently, I am enjoying reading again the book by Steven Bartlett, The Diary of a CEO – 33 Laws of Business & Life. I particularly resonate with Law 14, “Friction can create value”, and Law 23, “Don’t be an ostrich”.
How and when did you first get into the investment migration industry?
I returned to Malta after several years abroad and, thanks to a former colleague at HSBC, I was introduced to this industry in December 2013, just as Malta was preparing to launch its first citizenship by investment program.
It was a golden opportunity to put into practice the foundations I learnt at HSBC and through my business experience.
I was asked to move rapidly across departments, which in hindsight proved the best education I could have asked for, far more than the MBA that only semi-prepared me for what was to come.
I was fortunate to work alongside industry pioneers and thought leaders who remain, to this day, valued colleagues, collaborators, and industry peers who keep me on my toes and grounded.
What was the proudest moment as a service provider?
We are lucky that this profession provides a plethora of proud moments, more than enough to outweigh the challenges.
One of my proudest moments is 12 years in the making, celebrating a group of people who have been together since. That continuity is rare, rewarding, and powerful, and it is the most important currency to me.
Over the years, these colleagues, along with others who joined along the way, have achieved amazing things, building families and kids, developing hobbies, growing personally and professionally.
Most importantly, we have seen the compounding effect that a team working together for so long has on the client experience.
We’ve celebrated clients’ oath ceremonies, transformed lives through mobility and access to education, supported charitable organizations, and matched talent with capital to create impact for countries seeking value added.
We are far from perfect, but witnessing these heights of emotion makes it a team worth being part of. Latitude has become a place of gratitude, a term coined by Marc Menard.
High-five moments happen when our people become partners, take on new challenges, or return stronger from different experiences.
When they move country to join colleagues, when colleagues excel at client advisory, even though they claim passionately that sales is not their thing! Some other proud moments are when we take in interns and they turn out to be rock stars.
We hire attitude and will before skill, because, as Dom likes to say, “Teamwork makes the dream work.”
Which investment migration market development has surprised you the most in the last year?
The rulings by the ECJ and some policy decisions in Brussels surprised me the most. I did not anticipate them to unfold in such a way.
That said, there’s a silver lining: Malta tends to be very resilient in the face of challenges.
Likewise, with the forced change in the citizenship act, Malta now stands to further progress its various bold priorities with the added value it seeks to accomplish by attracting top talent and innovators worthy of citizenship by merit.
One wise client once told me: Play the long game and let patience be your guide, especially with bureaucrats.
At Latitude, our team mirrors that resilience, always looking to create long-term value for clients and countries alike.
If you could go ten years back in time, what business decision would you change?
I would have sought out talent in Essex much sooner.
I would also have supported the implementation of Latitude’s AI earlier. Our AI is very different from what Sam and Elon are developing, forming a core part of LOS and Latitude’s innovation.
Implementing it sooner could have accelerated the impact we now enjoy, but it’s never too late to innovate.
What investment migration personality do you admire the most?
I’ve been fortunate to work and learn from many key personalities in this industry. My success is owed to those who believed in me and those who challenged me to succeed at all costs.
I admire those who have moved the conversation beyond transactions, professionals who position residency and citizenship within broader statecraft and policy.
Pioneers who coined terms like “the gold standard of due diligence,” “the 21st-century insurance policy,” and who refer to investment migration as a profession, not just an industry.
Without singling out names, these include various government officials with incredible vision and foresight wanting to create policies to attract human capital, investment, and innovation, which goes on to improve a country’s GDP.
Besides my fellow board members and ex-colleagues, two individuals come to mind whom I greatly admire: Kenneth Camilleri, a phenomenal person full of positive energy, and Hakan Cortelek, with whom I have had the privilege of sharing both business and leisure.
From Hakan, I learned the power of humour in professional life.
If all goes according to plan, what will you be doing five years from now?
I would have transitioned from an operations role to a more strategic role. Strategy is my passion. I think of it as a game, perhaps I was wired that way.
Hey, no one is perfect, everyone has their quirks, right?
If it were up to Alex Hopkin, I would take my chances in politics. But that’s maybe so he finds a way to get rid of me. I would much rather double down on connecting global wealth and talent with opportunities to leave a lasting impact on countries with forward-looking policies.
Certainly, for my home country, contributing to national priorities and prosperity for citizens, residents, and generations to come. And I will do all of this while enjoying the ride with incredible people, clients, and their fascinating stories.
Whatever I am doing, it will be alongside an extraordinary team, who make every success and challenge worth it.
