The Settlement Services team
At the heart of what Strate does, is the safeguarding of ownership rights for public and private market securities in South Africa. These records, held digitally, represent the legal record of ownership for all equities, bonds, money markets and participatory notes in collective investment schemes (ETFs) entrusted to Strate for safekeeping.
The Settlement Services team plays a vital role in ensuring the essential legal record of ownership is maintained through ongoing facilitation of the process leading up to settlement.
Settlement Services work closely with Central Securities Depository Participants, business partners, clients and exchanges to resolve settlement issues.
With their extensive knowledge of the securities industry and having completed the Strate Compliance exams, this highly-skilled team has the expertise to find the best solutions to ensure settlement happens.
Meet the Settlement Services team:
Modiehi Lephuthing: Head of Settlement
Modiehi has a sound knowledge and understanding of South Africa’s financial markets, the settlement of securities, and how to resolve issues relating to settlement.
Modiehi was appointed Head of Settlement in April 2020 after working her way up through the ranks of Settlement Services – previously known as the Service Desk. Having joined Strate as a graduate in 2010, she went on to serve in the roles of service desk support specialist, service desk team leader and service desk manager.
Modiehi has a BCom (General Management and Economics) from the University of Free Strate, a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management from the University of South Africa and a Programme for Management Development certificate from the Gordon Institute of Business Science.
Anzio Roman: Senior Settlement Services Specialist
Anzio’s strength lies in his ability to serve the financial markets by assisting and resolving complex client inquiries about financial securities.
Anzio joined Strate as a graduate in 2016, going on to hold the positions of Settlement Services Specialist, before moving into the role of Senior Settlement Specialist in September 2020.
Anzio has a BCom (Management and Economics) from the University of the Western Cape and a (BCom Hons) (Management).
Bernadette Hendricks: Settlement Services Specialist
After almost three decades working in the settlement’s environment, Bernadette has extensive experience and a deep understanding of the intricacies of settlement. She now focuses on collateral management where she facilitates an efficient client onboarding process between the client, Strate and technology partner Clearstream. Bernadette monitors collateral management transactions across asset classes and assists in building trusted and credible relationships with collateral clients.
Bernadette joined UNEXCor – Universal Exchange Corporation in 1994 as an administrative clerk for bonds. When UNEXCor merged with Strate in 2003, Bernadette held the role of a clearing and settlement specialist. She moved to the then Business Specialist team specialising in the bond market before joining Collateral Services.
Bernadette has a N. Dip in Relationship Marketing and Customer Relationship Management from the University of South Africa and has completed the New Regulatory Landscape for OTC Derivatives from DeriviDoc, Credit Derivatives Introduction to Central Clearing and the SABTOF Financial Markets, Securities Lending course at Hedge Fund Academy.
Chad Ackerman: Settlement Services Specialist
With his passion for customer service, Chad is ideally placed to work with Strate’s clients to ensure successful securities settlement.
Chad has been a part of Strate since he joined as a graduate in January 2016 and was thereafter appointed as a Settlement Services Specialist in the same year.
Chad has a BA(Economics) and BA(Hons)(Economics) from the University of Johannesburg.
Kameera Harduth: Settlement Services Specialist
Kameera’s expertise and passion lies in the banking and financial market sectors, focusing on corporate actions, derivatives and tri-party collateral management.
After graduating with a Diploma in Financial Information Systems from the University of Johannesburg, Kameera joined the Corporate Actions team at Standard Bank. She then moved into derivatives before switching to collateral management.
She joined Strate in 2019 as part of the Collateral Management team and in 2021 she moved to the Settlements Services team, specialising in tri-party collateral management.
Rixile Maluleke: Settlement Services Specialist
Rixile’s expertise lies in securities’ settlement, risk management and client collaboration.
Having started his career in the Department of Correctional Services as a data administrator, Rixile made the switch into financial market infrastructure when he joined Strate in September 2018.
Rixile has a BSc (Applied Mathematics and Statistics) from the University of Limpopo.
Robert Henwood: Settlement Services Specialist
Robert is a specialist in financial market infrastructure, securities’ settlement, risk management and client collaboration.
Robert joined Strate in January 2020, after completing his undergraduate degree in BA Public Management and Governance (Public Administration) and a postgraduate degree in BA (Hon)(Politics and International Relations) at the University of Johannesburg.
Siyabonga Mbatha: Settlement Services Specialist
Siyabonga has spent over 10 years gaining a depth of knowledge and experience in the financial services sector, having spent nine years working at CSD Participants before joining Strate in December 2020.
Trudi Kistan: Settlement Services Specialist
Trudi focuses on providing effective client service in a prompt, efficient and accurate manner.
She started her career in retail before joining Strate in 2017 as a Service Desk Specialist.
Trudi has a BCom (Human Resource Management, Supply Chain Management and Business Management) from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
