There’s a precision to Kallol Kundu that isn’t always common in the world of luxury hospitality. For the Group Chief Financial Officer of FIVE Holdings – a lifestyle conglomerate with interests includes the likes of hotels, music, fashion, and aviation – every decision is designed like a high-stakes equation. Every asset is expected to perform.
“At FIVE, we don’t see diversity as a complexity to be managed – we see it as a powerful composition,” he says. “The financial strategy is architected like a symphony, where each business vertical plays a distinct instrument but follows the same score: value creation through intensity, innovation, and integration”.
Kundu isn’t the sort of CFO who hides behind numbers. He speaks in metaphors, balances creative ambition with financial restraint, and sees emotion as a measurable input. At FIVE, he has redefined what it means to be a finance chief in a business where the product is as much about feeling as it is about form.
“We operate with creative freedom and financial restraint – both in high definition,” he says. “We don’t kill ideas with spreadsheets, but we challenge them with accountability. Our financial controls are deeply embedded into real-time systems – the margin of error is reduced not through fear, but through data.”
It’s a balancing act that few could pull off. But then again, Kundu’s résumé isn’t ordinary. Before FIVE, he held senior roles across energy, consumer goods, EPC, and real estate. He’s studied finance, law, fraud analytics, and tech – and applied those skills across continents and crises.
Strategy and growth
“Our capital strategy is built around controlled aggression – we move fast, but with buffers,” he says. “With strong liquidity, optimal gearing, and a growing reputation in capital markets, we are set up to fund both organic operations and inorganic growth.”
Today, he oversees a high-performance portfolio that includes FIVE Palm Jumeirah, FIVE Jumeirah Village, FIVE LUXE, FIVE Zurich, and FIVE MODE – as well as the recently acquired Pacha Group in Ibiza. Each property and vertical is treated as its own growth engine. “They don’t just coexist,” he explains. “They amplify each other.”
The acquisition of Pacha – home to iconic brands like Destino, El Hotel, Toy Room, WooMoon Storytellers, and a globally recognised fashion line – is more than just a deal. “The Pacha acquisition is more than expansion – it is cultural immersion,” Kundu says. “Financially, we are looking at the future from a position of strength… But the real lever isn’t just capital – it is conviction.”
Data over dogma
Kundu is unapologetically digital. Under his watch, FIVE’s finance function has gone from traditional ledger to predictive intelligence. “In just six months, we have moved from conventional to cutting-edge – real-time rolling forecasts, automated fund allocation and monitoring, embedded audits, and continuous governance,” he says.
It’s not digital theatre. It’s operational necessity. “What used to take weeks now takes minutes – and more importantly, it enables managers to act, not just react.”
His Centre of Excellence, built on AI, RPA, and machine learning, has won awards for its role in reducing costs, streamlining reporting, and improving compliance. Kundu also led the design of a blockchain framework specifically for the hospitality sector – a rare move in a traditionally analogue industry.
Risk by design
For all the tech, there is still gut. “The balance sheet gives you numbers; instinct tells you what they’re not saying,” he says. “My instinct isn’t mystical – it’s a sum of lived experience, informed hunches, and a relentless pursuit of understanding the ‘why’ behind the ‘what.’”
That instinct is what allows him to manage volatility in sectors like hospitality and real estate. “Risk is not something we avoid – it is something we design for,” he says. “Winter demand in Dubai complements summer demand in Ibiza. Event-driven revenues buffer seasonality. And we acquire at value – not peak – so we build in resilience from day one.”
This isn’t a boardroom full of consultants. It’s conviction-led, hands-on strategy. Kundu tracks macroeconomic trends, currency fluctuations, and regulatory risk in real time. “We don’t hedge with hope; we hedge with foresight,” he says.
A CFO with a telescope
Kundu’s leadership is intellectual, but also philosophical. When asked where he goes to recharge, he doesn’t mention golf or Netflix. He talks about the cosmos. “Cosmology. That’s where I find my balance. It’s humbling and expansive,” he says. “Studying the cosmos aligns me with the ‘why’ behind the ‘how,’ which is essential when you’re operating in an environment as dynamic and layered as FIVE.”
And layered it is. In 2024, FIVE became the only company in the world to receive an ‘A’ rating across all sectors from ISS, the global ESG ratings agency. That distinction wasn’t accidental. It was engineered. From its LEED Platinum properties in Dubai and Zurich to its fully solar-powered operations, sustainability at FIVE isn’t an afterthought – it’s an edge.
Not just return, but resonance
For Kundu, ROI isn’t purely financial. “At FIVE, ROI isn’t just about percentages – it’s about participation,” he says. “We operate in a business where emotion is currency. Our strategy ensures that high-intensity experiences convert to loyalty, and loyalty converts to lifetime value.”
That means every capital allocation must amplify the brand – not dilute it. “We focus on sweating our assets more than acquiring new ones for vanity metrics. Every dollar invested is benchmarked not just on its IRR, but on how it amplifies our core proposition: exceptional experiences.”
He’s not trying to be a traditional CFO. And FIVE isn’t trying to be a traditional group. Their ethos is clear: intensity, performance, and integrity. “This is a rare space where a CFO can be both a steward and a strategist, a technocrat and a creator,” Kundu says.
The final word?
He doesn’t offer one. But if there’s a philosophy that runs through everything he does, it’s this: creativity without consequence is indulgence. Creativity with conviction – that’s strategy.