Early Childhood and Education
Funso was born in Lagos on 16 June 1968. His father, the late Dr. Henry Aderounmu Aremu Doherty, a medical doctor, was also born in Lagos, in the year 1900 to “Oga” Josiah Henryson Doherty (popularly known as “the prince merchant of Alakoro”). His paternal grandmother, Germana, was from the Reis family. Funso’s mother, Gladys Urunowonekawo Kirstein, who died in September 2024, was born in 1931 to an Itsekiri mother, Mary Kponuko Eyesan and a German father.
Funso grew up in the Yaba area of Lagos on Wakeman Street (now Borno Way). His father owned and operated a private Medical Practice on Aje Street, following a career as a medical officer dating back to the colonial administration which he joined after completing medical school in Glasgow, Scotland in 1926. His mother retired from the then National Electric Power Authority after successfully completing 35 years in the civil service.
Funso attended Corona School Victoria Island, Lagos, where he was appointed and served as Head Boy, completing his primary education in 1979. He was admitted into King’s College Lagos, which was also his father’s alma mater (Dr. Henry Doherty completed his studies at King’s College in 1918). While at KC, Funso was a Federal Government Academic Scholar. He was also a recipient of the school’s Service to College Life award, for being elected by his peers to serve as Form Captain for four Consecutive terms of office.
After KC, Funso commenced undergraduate studies at the University of Lagos where he studied Accounting, graduating with Second Class Upper Division Honours in 1990. While at Unilag, he was a member of the well-known ABC Club, and was ultimately elected by his peers as Chief of the club.
Career
His year of National Service commenced with orientation at the (in)famous Yikpata camp in Kwara State, where he served as Platoon Leader. He served out his primary assignment, teaching for a year in a rural Community Secondary school in Okehi local government area, then in Kwara, now part of Kogi State.
After completing NYSC in 1991, Funso applied, interviewed and was selected for a coveted position in the Lagos office of Arthur Andersen & Co. (now KPMG) earning the (then princely) sum of approximately N1,800 per month. He spent three years at the Firm, being trained locally and internationally and rising quickly to the position of Senior. Not wanting to make a career in accounting practice, he left the Firm in 1994, after successfully completing the qualifying examinations of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.
He joined Asset & Resource Management Company, then a part of the Guaranty Trust Bank Group, at inception in 1994, where he specialized in investment management, becoming one of the pioneers of the mutual fund industry in Nigeria.
In 1995, he married then Dr. (Miss) Orode Omolara Williams of the Williams Family of Olowogbowo, Lagos. Orode’s father was the late Professor Babatunde Williams and her mother is the renowned Professor of Mathematics Education, and former Vice Chancellor, Grace Awani Alele-Williams of blessed memory.
In 1999, Funso was admitted to Harvard Business School and commenced the MBA program. Orode was also admitted to Harvard’s Graduate School of Public Health. They both graduated in the summer of 2001.
That year, Funso joined the Investment Management Division of Goldman, Sachs & Co. the global Investment Banking Firm. He was in downtown Manhattan, New York, when the twin towers of the World Trade Center were attacked and felled by terrorists on 9/11.
Funso subsequently joined PNC Advisors, the investment management business of the PNC Banking group as a Vice President at its Head Office in Pennsylvania, USA.
He returned to Nigeria in 2005, to serve as the Pioneer Managing Director/CEO of ARM Pension Managers which he led from inception to become one of Nigeria’s leading Pension Fund Administrators. He led, managed and successfully integrated the Pension Industry’s first major Merger and Acquisition transaction. During this period, he was chosen by his fellow operators as the Pioneer Chairman of the Pension Fund Operators Association, the umbrella body of all licensed pension operators.
He moved on in 2011, and was engaged in private investing. Between 2014 and 2017 he partnered with the African Capital Alliance Group (ACA), after the buyout of their Joint Venture Partner’s interest in Valualliance Asset Management Company (Formerly SIM Capital Alliance). He served as Managing Director / CEO and was a co-investor.
In 2017, he was nominated by the then Acting President, to the office of Director-General of the National Pension Commission together with a new slate of Commissioners. These appointments were however never concluded or advanced to Senate for Confirmation proceedings.
Funso recently completed his tenure as Managing Director / CEO of PAL Pensions where he led a nationwide team overseeing the management of over half a trillion naira in Assets.
He is a charter holder and co-founding Trustee of the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) Society Nigeria and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.
Personal
Funso and Orode are blessed with three wonderful children:
Anuoluwakiitan (Kiitan)
Oluwasijibomi (Siji), and
Riritarioluwa (Tari)
Funso reads widely and enjoys running and has done so for many years. These days, he typically does a 5k run three or four times each week.