Dr Frans Cronje

Chief Executive Officer: IRR and Scenario Planner

Frans Cronje is chief executive officer of the IRR. He attended St John’s College in Houghton and the University of the Witwatersrand, and holds a PhD in Scenario Planning from North West University.

He served with the South African Police, worked as a horse-riding instructor and later logger in the United States, and completed a year-long expedition that crossed the African continent from Cape Town to Cairo. He joined the IRR in 2004 and established its Centre For Risk Analysis which specialises in using scenarios to help business and government leaders make decisions about investment and policy in South Africa. He has presented scenarios to over 100 South African corporations and foreign investors. He is an associate of the Centre for Innovative Leadership – a leading South Africa based scenario consultancy and the author of A Time Traveller’s Guide To Our Next Ten Years (Tafelberg 2014). His work has been widely cited in the media, from the Volksblad to the Wall Street Journal. He writes columns for Rapport newspaper and Moneyweb and is a regular contributor to Classic Business on Classic FM.

The IRR is the leading free market think tank in South Africa. It was established in 1929 and stands for economic and political liberalism. The IRR uses research and public commentary to influence policy in South Africa that promotes investment-led economic growth and is the largest independent supplier of information and research support services to politicians, journalists, and civil society groups in South Africa.

Nersan Naidoo

Chief Executive: Sanlam Investments Core

Nersan was appointed chief executive: Sanlam Investments Core in November 2013. His responsibilities include the oversight of investment teams and investment operations areas for asset management, multi-management, hedge funds, derivative structuring, Africa asset management and Satrix.

Prior to that, he was founding member and chief executive officer of the Sanlam Investments multi-manager business from 2002, when he joined the Sanlam Group. He was instrumental in building the business to its status as one of the leading multi-managers in South Africa. In addition to his responsibilities as CEO, Nersan was also head of the previous Investment Services sub-cluster, which included Sanlam Collective Investments, BlueInk Investments, Graviton Financial Partners and Graviton Wealth Management. He has served as a member of the Sanlam Investments executive committee for the past six years.

Nersan’s track record of 14 years spans extensive experience in investment management and business leadership, both locally and internationally. Operating from London, he managed the international multi-management business for two years before returning to South Africa in 2009, as CEO of Sanlam Multi Manager International. He joined Sanlam from UBS Warburg where he completed their graduate training programme. Nersan is a CFA charterholder and holds a BSc Elec Eng (Hons) degree. He also has a postgraduate diploma in Organisational Leadership from Oxford University.

David Burns

Executive Director: NMG Group

David Burns is an executive director of the NMG Group, a financial services advisory and intermediary business which employs 500+ people across Europe, South Africa and Asia Pacific. David has spent his entire career in financial services with providers, bancassurers and in consulting.

David is a co-founder of NMG’s UK consulting practice business which provides strategic level advice to financial institutions, particularly those in the retail life, pensions and investment sector. Prior to joining NMG he spent five years leading consulting engagements in SE Asia, Australia, South Africa and the USA.

In recent years, David’s main focus has been the UK Retail Distribution Review (RDR) and in particular the impact of the RDR on the adviser market. He leads NMG’s work in this area, which has included advising the UK regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, on a near continuous basis since the RDR was launched in 2007.

Richard Brasher

Chief Executive Officer: Pick n Pay

Richard joined Pick n Pay as chief executive officer in 2013 and is leading a plan to restore the business to sustainable long-term growth. He has an outstanding track record spanning over 25 years in international retail.

He has developed and led the world’s most iconic brand loyalty programme, created one of the first truly global commercial sourcing operations, built an enduring and much imitated private-label strategy, and was instrumental in leading a traditional food retail business into the online and convenience markets. His guiding belief is that values determine the enduring success of organisations, and that the customers, staff and the community must always be core to these values.

Ian Kirk

Chief Executive: Sanlam Group

Ian was born in Dublin and moved to South Africa in 1981.

He was appointed to the PriceWaterhouse partnership in 1986 and took overall responsibility for the computer audit function in the firm. Early in 1996 Ian was approached to join AGA Holdings as managing director, a relatively small JSE listed life insurance player with Investec as its significant shareholder. AGA Holdings later restructured as Capital Alliance Holdings Limited, one of the first broad-based black empowerment financial services companies in South Africa. In December 2004, Capital Alliance Holdings was sold to Liberty Group in a transaction valued at R3.3 billion and Ian was appointed deputy CEO of the Liberty Group in March 2005.

In May 2006 Ian joined the Sanlam Group as chief executive: strategy and projects, where his responsibilities were to undertake a strategic review of the group, determine strategic direction along with the group executive, review capital allocation arrangements and hurdle rates, drive new strategic initiatives including Project Helix and Shriram General, and establishing a direct financial services business for the group.

In June 2007, he was appointed chief executive of Santam whose market capitalisation has more than doubled since his appointment.

As chief executive, Ian was responsible for overseeing all elements of the business as well as driving new initiatives to determine and execute the strategy for Santam’s profitable growth in South Africa and, of late, into Africa, India and SE Asia. Ian was very focused on continuous improvement initiatives and innovation, as well as continuous product and service reviews, thereby ensuring that Santam remained at the forefront of insurance.

Ian was appointed chief executive of the Sanlam Group in July 2015.
Ian qualified as a chartered accountant (CA) in 1984, and also obtained qualifications in Business Data Processing and Certified Information System Audit in 1985.

Maya Fisher-French

Award-winning financial journalist and author

Maya Fisher-French is a well-known South African financial journalist with her own website MayaonMoney.co.za.

She is editor of My Money My Lifestyle, the personal finance section of national Sunday newspaper City Press for which she recently won the 2013 Sanlam Award for Excellence in Financial Journalism under the category of Consumer Financial Education.

Maya edited the South African version of Dave Ramsey’s best seller “The Total Money Makeover” and has just published her own book, Maya on Money – Implement your money plan.

Apart from print media Maya hosted the JSE crossing for CNBC Africa and is a frequent guest on talk-radio shows. She is also a popular speaker at corporate events.

Prior to becoming a financial journalist in 2003, Maya worked in the financial industry for a stock-broking company where she developed their private client trading desk and headed up the offshore investment division. Prior to that she worked for Investec Private Bank as a consultant on their direct investment desk.

Maya has a BA in English and an Honours degree in Economics from the University of the Witwatersrand. In 2006 she received the award for Best Newcomer in the Sanlam Journalist of the Year awards for articles published in business magazine Maverick.