It is with great pleasure that Crescent Wealth announces the onboarding of one of our newest board members – Mr. Charlie Shahin!
Mr. Charlie Shahin is one of Australia’s most successful but understated businessmen. From humble beginnings, Mr. Charlie Shaheen is warmly embraced as a part of Crescent Wealth.
“On behalf of my fellow board members I would like to welcome Charlie to the register and the board and say how much we value his presence and look forward to his guidance and counsel,” Crescent Wealth managing director Professor Talal Yassine said.
“I would also like to thank Samier Dandan and Issam Eid for their work and commitment over the last decade. You go with our sincere appreciation and thanks.”
He replaces Samier Dandan, president of the Lebanese Muslim Association, who stepped down from the board to focus on growing new parts of the group. Issam Eid, a portfolio manager with Salter Brothers, left the shareholder registry.
Shahin is the eldest son of Peregrine Corporate founder Fred Shahin. Peregrine generates more than $2.9 billion annually and is one of Australia’s largest privately-owned companies.
So who is Mr. Shaheen, and what makes him stand out from the crowd?
His father came to Australia with “little more than his values and a vision” and created one of Australia’s most successful companies. Now leading Adelaide businessman Charlie (Khalil) Shahin has been named an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in what he says both honors him and his father’s legacy.
Founded in 1984, the Peregrine Corporation is currently recognised as South Australia’s largest privately-owned employer, investing in a range of fields and generates more than $2.9 billion in revenue annually.
“My father Fred believed he could provide a better quality of life for his family,” Mr Shahin said in response to his Australia Day award. “He raised us to be kind to others, to appreciate the diverse cultures and beliefs in Australia, to be humble, and to serve our communities and those less fortunate.”Just like Australians chose to give my family a fair go, we believe in giving everyone a fair go, irrespective of age, cultural background, gender or religious belief.”
Mr Shahin’s was named Order of Australia, based on his distinguished service to business and commerce, to philanthropy as an advocate for corporate social responsibility and for his service to the multicultural community.He has been a director of the Shahin Charity Trust since 1995 with programs that range from school-based Islam awareness programs to helping to fund aged care for the Islamic community.
As the eldest son of Fred Shahin who founded the Peregrine Corporation in 1984 with the purchase of a small BP service station in Adelaide, the company has grown to become South Australia’s largest privately-owned employer, investing in a range of fields. Peregrine Corporation employs more than 5000 people across its retail operations, including fuel and convenience store franchises and Krispy Kreme franchises. It is the state’s largest retailer.
However, economists aren’t the only ones excited about Mr. Shaheen’s business endeavors. Peregrine Corporation has, under the leadership of the Shaheen family, thrived in facilitating commerce and e-commerce within the retail space for all sorts of goodies. This has impacted countless lives by way of facilitating jobs and ensuring an income stream for numerous businesses and firms.
Peregrine also has a large and diverse commercial property portfolio including iconic South Australian landmark CBD sites in Rundle Mall, North Terrace, and King William Street. In 2015, Peregrine started redeveloping the former Mitsubishi Motors Australia test site outside Tailem Bend as The Bend Motorsport Park, which opened in 2017 when it also bought Mallala Motor Sport Park.
Speaking about his involvement in Crescent Wealth, Shaheen said:
“Crescent Wealth has been a pioneer in Australian financial services and a champion for Islamic finance initiatives. We share the same values and a passion for ethical investing,”.
“I look forward to working with the Crescent Group team over the next many, many years.”
Another of their many exciting projects at Peregrine is the motoring park.
The Bend Motorsport Park is a project of South Australia’s largest private company, The Peregrine Corporation.
Founded in 1984 by the late Fred Shahin, who died in 2009, Peregrine is now operated by his three sons; Charlie, Sam and Yasser.
Fred had fled his native, war-torn Palestine, suffering at the hands of Israeli oppression, with his family in 1948 at the age of 10, seeking refuge in Lebanon.
He went on to work for the United Nations, before moving to Adelaide in 1984 where, unable to find work, he bought his own petrol station in the suburb of Woodville.
The business has grown exponentially from there, redefining petrol stations as all-encompassing retailing outlets.
In 2001, Fred Shahin was awarded a medal of the Order Of Australia for services to the community.
The driving force behind the creation of The Bend has been Sam Shahin, who was 16 when the family moved to Australia
He trained as a doctor, before leaving
medicine to help grow the family empire, during which time he fell in love with motorsport.
Shahin has described the creation of The Bend as an opportunity to give back to the community that has given his family so much.
Securing a Supercars event was a big milestone for the circuit, while Shahin has also spoken of wanting to attract the likes of MotoGP and the World Endurance Championship.
Located 100km southeast of Adelaide on the fringe of the River Murray, Tailem Bend’s population is a little over 1,500 people.
The circuit and the events it will attract, therefore, promise to reinvent the sleepy location, with local businesses already reporting benefits from the investment.
The racetrack itself is located on the site of what was once a testing facility for Mitsubishi Motors’ local development efforts.
Its transformation into The Bend began soon after Mitsubishi closed its local manufacturing in 2008, with CAMS and the local council hatching plans for a new motorsport mecca.
The Shahins took on the project in late 2013. A little over two years later, work on building the complex had began and, by April 2018, it was ready to hold its first race meeting.
His father came to Australia with “little more than his values and a vision” and created one of Australia’s most successful companies.
Other initiatives include a community-based mentoring program for Islamic Year 12 students and work with resettling refugees including the funding of a social worker to identify the needs of refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan. In business, the Shahin family’s Peregrine Corporation is the largest private employer in SA with interests in a range of fields including the retail and property sectors. Mr Shahin said he was proud to be part of an organisation which is recognised for the diversity of its employees.
The Shahin family has travelled across Victoria, Sydney and other cities for philanthropic, business and investment purposes. Charlie brings a host of experience in the corporate world that will bring positive benefit and improvement to Crescent Wealth’s pivotal work in the Superannuation industry.
We look forward to sharing many great memories with Mr. Shaheen and the rest of the Crescent Wealth family!
