Acutely aware of the weight his comments now carry — and not wanting to perturb the BoE’s press office — he shies away from questions on rumours of rising interest rates; suggestions that banks are set to face tougher rounds of stress tests; or the impact the economic policies of political parties contesting in next year’s general election could have on trade with Europe.
'Israel is a critical source of our future and I’m not just saying that because the JC is interviewing me'
When probed again, with re-phrased questions to the same effect, he’s polite but firm. “I have to be a bit careful here with my BoE hat on,” he says. “Seriously, it’s so strict it’s not even a joke. Good try though. These roles are very quiet; you just get on with it,” he says.
“The BoE is arguably one of the most powerful unelected bodies in this country. With that comes a huge responsibility to make sure that it serves the public.
“The BoE has come up with a new mission. I’m absolutely crazy about it,” he adds, reading it off his iPhone. “It’s a very inspiring mission to maintain stability for people in every corner of the UK.”
And while he recognises that there is still public distrust of banks after the 2008 financial crisis, he believes that “starting with the BoE, there’s a huge amount that can be done”.
Fried is passionate about banking, a subject on which he lectures at Cambridge University. He advised on it, too, when a partner of McKinsey & Company in New York, a management consulting firm. His banking credentials also include being former chief executive of Investec, a specialist banking and asset management group, of which he is now a non-executive director.
“Why,” he asks rhetorically, “is banking so critically important to me? You can’t have a strong economy without strong banks. In order to be a top commercial capital you need powerful banks because, in their absence, it’s hard to develop the kind of growth you need. Banks are the transmission system of an economy.”
It’s clear that Fried sees his role at the BoE as a public service as, “it isn’t about money; the money is irrelevant. It’s a big time commitment, a pleasure and a great privilege”. And what’s more, the South Hampstead United Synagogue member also believes that he has an overriding duty to support Israel.
In 2010, he teamed up with his childhood friend Leon Blitz to set up investment firm Grovepoint Capital, naming it after the Grove Primary School they attended as boys after meeting at cheder and singing together at the Claremont Synagogue choir in Cape Town.
Since its inception, Grovepoint has made more than $1 billion worth of investment, with two-thirds going to UK projects and the rest split between Israel and Germany. Last year, Grovepoint, which also has an office in Israel, invested around $50 million in the Algatech business in the Arava desert, which commercially cultivates micro-algae to supply antioxidants for human consumption. Any investment in Israel, he admits, is a risk. On the night they closed the Algatech deal, lawyers were finalising negotiations from the back room of a bomb shelter, as missiles came in on Tel Aviv. “But there was no way we were pulling out,” he insists. “University students often ask: ‘How are you able to invest in Israel, in a state that is so risky?’
“Well, my answer is very Israeli,” says Fried — who can trace his family’s roots in Jerusalem back more than 300 years. “We’re very supportive of the place.
“Rather than just sit in an armchair and talk rubbish, we invest a huge amount of money, we invest resources and we invest in our future in Israel.
“Israel is a critical source of our future and I’m not just saying that because the JC is interviewing me. It’s the source of some of the greatest innovation that the world has ever known.
“Israel is fantastic at developing ideas and concepts, but they struggle with the last mile. They struggle with the commercialisation of businesses. That’s where we fit in.
“We tend to take businesses that are developed in Israel, using Israeli technology and Israeli thinking and the best of Israeli innovation, and we work with them to internationalise those businesses.”
With a home in Herzliya, he travels to Israel every six weeks on average. Keen to back more projects — admitting that there are some in the pipeline — he’s particularly interested in “tangible assets” over technology, from water to agriculture and heavy industry.
But while he does “adore investing in Israel”, he will only do so within borders recognised by international law. On this point, he could not be clearer.
He says: “The idea of investing in occupied territory is completely out of the question. We will not hear about a business in occupied territory. We will not hear about an area that’s not indisputably Israel. We get plenty of approaches but I don’t believe we should be putting settlers on to disputed land.”
Since he left South Africa 25 years ago (to take his career places “where things happen”), he’s come to one overriding conclusion. This brings him back to his responsibilities at the BoE.
Fried, who lives in St John’s Wood, north-west London, with his two teenage sons and wife Lauren, whom he met as a youth leader on a South African Habonim camp, says: “I learnt from my earliest years that you’ve got to give back to the community. The SA Jewish community was a warm, supportive place. It focused a lot on values and was a wonderful environment in which to develop ‘Jewishness’.
“I don’t regard myself at all as a guest in this society. I don’t want to hear about being a guest, and I’ve often noted how many people do regard themselves as guests. When you are not a guest, it comes with an obligation of being very serious about giving the best of yourself to a place like this.
“Why do we love it here so much? Because Britain’s open for doing business and it’s a wonderful, cosmopolitan society.
“The rate at which we’ve drawn talent from around the world is unprecedented. We’re the centre of the world, we’ve got language, location and time-zone on our side. I don’t know any other economy that’s drawn in talent like this: French mathematicians, South African entrepreneurs, the science community, you name it.
“The education institutions are quite superb and absolutely critical to an economy like this. Britain has been remarkable to my family. It’s taken in a young South African and allowed me to build a career; been a warm and welcoming place for my children; allowed me to connect to the state of Israel in a way I want to connect to it; and has thriving grassroots initiatives across the community. What more could I want?”
