Fabian stays on top of the Game.

“Success comes when you work for it. It doesn’t happen by chance. But by the choices one makes in life. In choosing to be enterprising and hard working, one can be assured that success is just around the bend.”

This is the view of registered financial consultant Fabian Carew. The good-looking gentleman operates out of CLICO’s Marabella Agency. He is one of 25 persons who are at the top of the ‘Million Dollar Round Table’

Fabian talked about his climb to success within a ten-year period. While “managing finance” and “keeping abreast of the financial issues of the day,” might be the topics for discussion during the course of his work day, he put those aside to talk about his life while growing up in St James, Port-of-Spain. Having completed secondary education there was only one thing on his mind. To get a good paying job. While he was faced with difficulties in acquiring employment, young Fabian was determined that he had to find a way to make the money he needs to live comfortably.

The last of ten children, Fabian worked for his elder sister Sandra Sellier at her Travel Agency. While there he met a guy who visited very often. On inquiring he found out that the well-dressed man was an insurance salesman and young Fabian was inspired to get into insurance.

He attended his first meeting in West Mall and then decided to get started in this job. He attended another meeting at Hilton where CLICO’s chairman Lawrence Duprey spoke. It did not take much for Fabian to “jump” into the world of insurance. He started off selling insurance policies in the rural areas of Trinidad with little or no success.

At times he was so frustrated he attempted to leave the job and find something else to do. On the death of his mother Babsie Dookie in 1994, and with little money to further his education, Fabian made a promise to work twice as hard at selling insurance.

In the face of adversity he found the strength to search for the success he craved as a young man. As ambitious as he was, after three years in the business, he was successful in getting a good customer base. Not satisfied with this, he took a step further into consultancy and soon he was well respected for his financial ideas.

Today, hundreds of people continue to benefit from strategy designed by Fabian who draws customers from all walks of life.

With the various new developmental plans by banks and other financial institutions who promise relief to investors, Fabian says that the need for consultancy has become greater.

His philosophy remains: ‘‘a person develops into a successful individual based on their upbringing.’’ While he was a teenager he saw exactly how a simple housewife (his mother), ran her household, saved money for a rainy day and educated ten children.

Fabian is a member of the Life Underwriters Trading Council Federation, the president of the north chapter of the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Insurance and Financial Advisor (TTAIFA) and secretary/treasurer of national board of TTAIFA.

His inspiration comes from remembering his mother and the way she worked. “Each day, my mother would have breakfast, lunch and dinner prepared for all her children. Apart from her food catering services at home, she found time to spend with her children. This is amazing.

“My mother used every minute doing everything to ensure progress in her house. She always had money to finance every little project her children were involved in,” he said.

Fabian’s learnt how to invest in “time” from his mother.

“Time management and money management is the key to having success. Why should we yearn for success without working towards getting it?” he asked. “If we need something in life, the simple recipe would be to work for it.”

While he agrees that people are afraid to take risks in life and to invest time and money in something that might fall apart, he suggests that a careful study of future plans and seeking other people’s opinions, be undertaken before going head with any investment. He noted it is now easy to access information on any topic on the Internet.

Explaining the importance of insurance Fabian said, “if we get insurance for our assets, we live a more peaceful life. We know that in the time of difficulty and in many other circumstances the insurance will work for us. It is really about the growth of money within a given time frame. It is necessary and important.”

Fabian said that eradication of poverty is upper most on his mind these days. “I believe that there should be no poverty in this small country of Trinidad and Tobago. The people here should be made to live comfortable, if not in riches. The country has the resources and it must be made available to the people,” he said.

He agrees that educating people is one of the ways to get rid of poverty, however, in his view people should get the basic amenities and also food and other supplies.

In his spare time Fabian listen to motivational speeches especially when it concerns ‘money matters.’

With respect to his personal life, Fabian said he derives great joy in spending time with his ten-year-old son Joshua and his 12-year-old daughter, Justine. He loves taking his children out for burgers and just looking at them run around and play sports.

He also loves to go swimming, saying that this is one activity that really relaxes him.