Michael Akkawi | CEO of Conquest
CEO of Conquest Michael Akkawi is driven by successfully delivering property developments of exceptional quality. These projects have included world-class architectural designs that are both beautiful and highly functional. Mr Akkawi applies his knowledge and expertise to every development he works on to ensure that each is well crafted, with the original intent fully delivered.
Mr Akkawi is very much a hands-on CEO, as comfortable in the boardroom as the site office. He prides himself on his excellent negotiation abilities, and his skills in business development and relationship building, and he is proud of working with his team to maintain Conquest’s status as one of Australia’s best-performing property development organisations.
Education
From January 2020 to December 2021, Michael Akkawi, Conquest CEO, studied at Said Business School, University of Oxford, from where he graduated with an MBA in executive leadership. This programme is designed for senior and high-potential executives, entrepreneurs and CEOs from around the world to upscale their leadership skills and nurture a high-performance culture within their corporate organisations.
Property Development
As an incredibly successful property developer, Mr Akkawi brings attention to detail to all aspects of his projects, driven by his passion for design, property and architecture. This love extends to his personal life: his hobbies include working on interior and architectural design schemes and expanding his knowledge of property development and investment. In his free time, Mr Akkawi also enjoys visiting sites of architectural beauty.
Net-zero homes are of particular interest to Mr Akkawi. These types of residential property are designed to generate, on-site, the same amount of energy as they consume. Any excess energy generated is returned to the grid.
Conquest Capital Investments
Mr Akkawi is the founder and CEO of Conquest Capital Investments, which operates in the field of private equity and real estate. The company is involved in the ‘build to rent’ (BTR) sector, whereby developers and financiers construct multi-unit buildings and retain these properties to rent to tenant households, rather than selling them upon completion. While BTR is an established practice in the USA and UK, it’s not yet seen a full take-up in Australia. However, it could be an effective solution to alleviating problems around the lack of supply of rental housing. This sector is expected to grow in Australia over the coming years, with the Australian Government encouraging investment by putting BTR investments on an equal taxation footing as alternative property investment options, like hotels, retail and corporate buildings.
Philanthropy
The Australian charity The Victoria Cross Foundation was established by Mr Akkawi, and he donates a portion of the proceeds of his projects to this organisation on a regular basis.