Later, we move downstairs to HSBC’s Premier Lounge for a chat. Here’s where the bank’s big customers, with bank balances of more than Rs25 lakh, are meant to relax while their banking is transacted on the side. It’s a pleasant setting, and certainly one where Flockhart is more forthcoming.
We go back to the time, 35 years ago, when a young lawyer straight out of Edinburgh University joined HSBC. “I wanted to be a bit more international,” says Flockhart. “Of course, I didn’t know then it would be 35 years and still counting.”
Flockhart has, in fact, never been posted in his home country. So, how does it feel to be constantly on the move? “It is fascinating. I have seen parts of the world I would have never seen before and I have made lots of friends.”
And has it been hard for his family? Flockhart considers. “I think you have to have a very supportive wife and, thankfully, I have,” he says. Juliet and Sandy Flockhart have been married for 29 years. That’s why Hong Kong is so special to Flockhart; it is where two of his four children were born and it is where he met Juliet, who was working in a trading company when Flockhart was first posted there.
“She’s a wonderful linguist,” says Flockhart, and the couple—who speak both Thai and, now, Spanish—enjoy the opportunities that travel gives them. They collect art from all over the world, including some beautiful antique tapestries from India, and have schooled their children to give them an international outlook as well.
So, what does Flockhart do when he’s not working? “I love golf. I have played golf since I was a boy of four or five. I have played all over the world—Latin America, USA, Mexico, Saudi Arabia,” says the banker.
Flockhart has played in Mumbai as well—early morning the same day this reporter interviewed him, at the Willingdon Golf Course, as well as on his earlier trips to India, where he has played both at Willingdon and at the Chembur Golf Course. “I think the great thing about golf is that you have somebody for three-and-a-half hours on the golf course and maybe half an hour you get to know them and that’s very good; but you always have to remember they also have four-and-a-half hours to get to know you!”
And where does this banker invest his own money? “I am not a person who actually buys and sells. I select the right make-up of earnings, integrity, and that is the type of company I like to invest in. I like to hold on to it.” Flockhart favours property and telecom, especially in emerging markets. And no, he desists from buying much real estate himself, despite all the temptations to do so in the wonderfully scenic spots he has been posted in, such as New Zealand, Thailand and even the Caribbean islands. “I don’t have the time for it,” he says quite simply. “In today’s frenetic life, busy jobs, responsibilities to spouse and children, if you can simplify your life, so much the better.”
“My only claim to exotica is my restored Jaguar XK140,” Flockhart confesses. But that vintage piece of gleaming machinery is strictly for weekends. Weekdays, it is up early and to work by 8am in a nicely modern Lexus.