To provide you with a holistic understanding of the impact emerging FinTechs will have on the future of financial services, GIBS partnered with Strate to host the Fintech Innovation Conference during August 2017.
The videos for the following topics are now available online:
Strate was named the winner of the Inaugural Conscious Companies Awards held at an evening gala event on 11 May in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg.
There has been much to be said about the inclusivity of stakeholders to create and nurture shared value, as opposed to shareholder value, says Strate CEO Monica Singer. “Companies are typically seen as vessels with limited liability, no heart nor soul. However, to be acknowledged as a company that is recognized for bringing humanity to capitalism is amazing, because it shows that Strate has the heart and soul to make a fundamental difference in its ecosystem,” she says.
Given that the world is interoperable, Singer truly believes in Ubuntu and that ‘we are because you are’ and encourages businesses to recognize that they should be consciously making a positive impact to the stakeholders within the communities that they operate in.
Conscious companies, by their very definition, operate with a sense of higher purpose and recognise the inherent value of linking business success with the socio-economic upliftment of the rest of society. “Truly conscious companies understand the need to be authentic in what they do and in driving change for the greater good, showing that caring forms part of their DNA in everything that they do,” adds Singer.
Her desire to change the world led to the creation of a company that truly cares for and nurtures its employees. A company can create magic by caring for people, because those people will go on to achieve their form of greatness, creating ripples of change across society.
Monica Singer, Strate CEO, following the announcement naming Strate the award winner
“Since its inception, Strate has made it our end goal to put the needs of the country first by embracing solutions that simultaneously transform and revolutionise markets and empower South Africans. We started by digitizing securities settlement in the financial market because it was in the best interest of South Africa’s financial markets.”
Prior to the birth of Strate, the country was ranked the worst emerging market for operational and settlement risk. Daily trades on the stock exchanged average 4000 in a day. The company has spent the past two decades building on those capabilities for the benefit of all South Africans, and as a result, South Africa is now rated among the top economies globally for financial market development and regulation of its exchanges. Trades average 280 000 on a bad day in today’s market. “Our philosophy has been to sell trust and its purpose has always been to serve the market for the greater good, in everything we do,” she explains.
Strate’s success has been underpinned by the spirit of collaboration. “Twenty years ago, we worked together with the financial market to transform the way things worked. Over the years, we have been working with various companies to boost financial literacy. Interestingly, companies like the Maharishi Institute and Thomson Reuters are some of those companies, and they have too been recognized as finalists in the Conscious Companies awards. Going forward, we are working with various parties locally and globally to embrace disruptive technologies and how it will change the lives of people for the better.”
75 companies were nominated for the award. Nominees were judged against the criteria listed below, where the company:
• understands what it takes to be authentic
• operates with a higher sense of purpose
• integrates the interest of all stakeholders
• develops visionary leaders
• builds a culture of trust, accountability, governance and caring
• encourages creativity and innovation
• is a responsible citizen in the communities that they operate in
Strate put forward its evidence for the criteria, with many examples of collaboration to create shared value. The company put forward its education initiatives across the board, conducive working environment for employees, as well as efforts to uplift the Africa and Middle East region. Further to this was examples of how it reinvests in the financial markets by way of its Special Purpose Reserve Fund, a fund that collects fines for non-compliance with Strate’s Rules and Directives that then pays for market education initiatives – from grass root to the highest degrees in finance at some prestigious South African universities.
Prof. Mervyn King, together with Nomahlubi Simamane, Vukani Magubane and Dr. Essop Pahad formed the panel of judges. They selected finalists for the awards in two categories: The NGO/NPO/NPC category as well as Company category.
The winners in the NGO/NPO/NPC category were Afrika Tikkun, an organisation which is chaired by Singer. The Maharishi Institute’s Imvula Empowerment Fund was named the runner up.
The winner of the Company category was Strate, and Belgotex Floor Coverings was named the runner up.
“We would like to commend all companies recognized in the awards and others across the continent that share similar values. It reflects that we walk this journey together to secure a future that will bring prosperity to all,” concludes Singer.
The Finance and Investment Management Olympiad (FIMO) is an initiative of the Finance and Investment Management Department at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), focused on Grade 10, 11 and 12 learners in high schools across all nine provinces. Earlier today, a group of prestigious individuals were awarded as winners of the second annual FIMO.
This initiative, which was formed in partnership with Strate (Pty) Ltd, places emphasis on learners to unleash their potential in a dynamic field within the financial services industry. “Individuals who take part in the FIMO have a specific interest in the finance discipline and the Olympiad gives them the exposure to key financial concepts that will enable them to pursue a future in the financial markets,” says Monica Singer, Strate’s CEO. “It starts with the basic steps of debunking financial terminology and important concepts and further provides the necessary knowledge of the industry as a whole. Strate enjoys partnering on initiatives such as this, which create awareness of the financial markets at grass-root level. We are proud to be part of this initiative and the lives of the learners as they start their journey within the industry.”
This FIMO also provides more insight into the finance and investment industry and offers essential prizes to further allow the learners to further their studies in their respective field within the industry.
The final round of the Olympiad was written on 2 August 2016. The 2016 FIMO winners were:
Public Schools
Private Schools
Grade 12
Grade 12
1st Place – M Banda, Wendywood
1st Place – J Hart, Redhill High
2nd Place – P Manyathela, Capricorn High
2nd Place – R Trusler, Redhill High
Grade 11
Grade 11
1st Place – P Visage, Huguenot High
1st Place – M Francis, Hatfield Christian School
2nd Place – L Mncube, Ladymsith High
2nd Place – N Sithole, UJ Metropolitan High
Grade 10
Grade 10
P Ramotala, Thomas Mofolo
B Simelane, Horizon International High
The topic areas that form part of the FIMO include:
Economics
Financial Literacy: Saving and borrowing
Financial Markets and Instruments
Financial Math
Interest Rates
Risk and Return
Time value of money
Financial Statements
Financial System
“Encouraging finance and investment skills within students makes them empowered to contribute and increase the growth of the South African economy”, adds Singer. “Strate would like to congratulate all the winners and participants of the FIMO 2016 and wish you all the best of luck for the year ahead.”
Here are some pictures of the FIMO Awards ceremony:
On 13 October, Strate held its Africa Blockchain Summit in Johannesburg to educate the market about Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology. The event was a great success, attended by over 200 delegates. Below are some pictures from the Summit.
Ten blockchain experts, including four international speakers, presented at the event. The following presentations have been made available:
Strate’s International Roadshow taking place in London next month is expected to receive a major draw card in the form of the Economists Editorial and Regional Director, Middle East and Africa, who will be sharing her insights at the event.
Pratibha Thaker (Pat), who leads The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Middle East and Africa team and is also the overall manager of the other regional teams, will use her mindshare to provide thought-provoking intelligence on South Africa. Pat’s extensive experience in the region will provide keys insights into the South African economic outlook and crucial issues, such as the impact of Brexit on the region. The conversation will wrap up some of the future trends that can be expected during the year ahead.
Strate is pleased to be able to secure a keynote speaker of such high calibre at its international roadshow. The presentation will provide an independent and in depth view of the current macro-economic environment in South Africa and the region, which is of value to the international investment community.
Should you wish to attend the event, more information can be found by clicking here.
Helena Conradie
Independent Non-executive Director
BSc Mathematics and Applied Mathematics (Honours), MSc Applied Mathematics (cum laude)(SU), CFA charter holder
Helena is former CEO of Satrix, the leading provider of index-tracking products in South Africa, wholly owned by the Sanlam Group. Since joining Sanlam Investments in 2000, Helena has built up a highly regarded indexation business, which has over R140 billion in assets under management. Her team also manages the largest equity portfolio of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in South Africa. Under her strategic leadership, Satrix has built up a formidable offering of both vanilla, factor and global products, which are available in the retail and institutional markets across ETF, unit trust and segregated portfolios.
Helena Conradie
Independent Non-executive Director
BSc Mathematics and Applied Mathematics (Honours), MSc Applied Mathematics (cum laude)(SU), CFA charter holder
Helena is former CEO of Satrix, the leading provider of index-tracking products in South Africa, wholly owned by the Sanlam Group. Since joining Sanlam Investments in 2000, Helena has built up a highly regarded indexation business, which has over R140 billion in assets under management. Her team also manages the largest equity portfolio of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in South Africa. Under her strategic leadership, Satrix has built up a formidable offering of both vanilla, factor and global products, which are available in the retail and institutional markets across ETF, unit trust and segregated portfolios
Helena Conradie
Independent Non-executive Director
BSc Mathematics and Applied Mathematics (Honours), MSc Applied Mathematics (cum laude)(SU), CFA charter holder
Helena is former CEO of Satrix, the leading provider of index-tracking products in South Africa, wholly owned by the Sanlam Group. Since joining Sanlam Investments in 2000, Helena has built up a highly regarded indexation business, which has over R140 billion in assets under management. Her team also manages the largest equity portfolio of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in South Africa. Under her strategic leadership, Satrix has built up a formidable offering of both vanilla, factor and global products, which are available in the retail and institutional markets across ETF, unit trust and segregated portfolios
Sameera Dada is Strate’s Chief Financial Officer. Previously, she held the position of chief risk officer at Ashburton Investments. Prior to that she held numerous roles including heading risk management at MMI Investments and Savings and serving as a financial and investment risk manager at Momentum Asset Management.
Sameera Dada
Sameera Dada is Strate’s Chief Financial Officer. Previously, she held the position of chief risk officer at Ashburton Investments. Prior to that she held numerous roles including heading risk management at MMI Investments and Savings and serving as a financial and investment risk manager at Momentum Asset Management.
Gregory Naicker
Gregory Naicker is Head of CSD Services. He has built up a career of over 20 years at Strate and has substantial institutional knowledge of the business, stakeholders and the markets, both in South Africa and internationally. His passion for Strate has led him to build credibility with internal and external stakeholders across the market.
Farzana Khan
Farzana Khan is Head of Collateral Services. She most recently headed Rand Merchant Bank’s securities lending division and has over 22 years’ experience in the financial sector. Prior to Rand Merchant Bank, she held posts at Merrill Lynch S.A. and Standard Corporate & Merchant Bank. She is a registered securities trader with the JSE Securities Exchange, holds the designation for the Settlement Officer’s Exam and has the International Capital Markets Qualification from the South African Institute of Financial Markets.
Rudi Steenkamp
Rudi Steenkamp is Head of Technology and Data Management. He oversees the entire IT function of Strate. Since joining the company through Strate’s merger with UNEXcor in 2003, Rudi has worked in the IT space for over 16 years. With one of the most advanced and sophisticated IT infrastructures for a CSD, Strate has achieved 99.995% uptime for the last four years and is one of the top 2% users of the SWIFT Network internationally.
Beverley Furman
Beverley Furman is Head of Operations. Previously, she was the Head of Strate Supervision, which she created in 2001 to supervise and monitor compliance by CSD Participants with South Africa’s securities legislation and the Financial Markets Act – a role Strate must perform as a licensed self-regulatory organisation. Bev has over 20 years’ experience in the financial markets.
Pheona Härtel
Pheona Härtel is Head of Risk, Legal and Compliance. She is experienced in overseeing risk disciplines and has worked for several blue-chip financial organisations in South Africa where, among other things, she has led operational process re-engineering; implemented, and expanded upon, compliance and governance principles; championed Treating Customers Fairly objectives; and provided strategic risk and governance inputs to CEOs and executives.
Samantha Cooper
Samantha Cooper is Head of Human Capital and Transformation. She has extensive experience in Human Capital Management. Samantha is a registered psychometrist and an accredited life coach. Before joining Strate, Samantha held a number of senior roles within the South African financial services sector.
Nigel Payne
Independent Non-executive Chairman
BCom (Hons), CA(SA), MBL (Unisa)
Nigel has a significant amount of experience in financial markets as well as in audit and risk management. He is a career non-executive chairman who serves on a number of boards including Mr Price Group Limited, Bid Corporation Limited and Vukile Property Fund Limited.
André Nortjé
Chief Executive Officer
BCom (Hons) Financial Management (UP), MCom Finance (cum laude)(Unisa)
André Nortjé is Strate’s Chief Executive Officer. He has over 20 years of executive management experience across multiple financial services disciplines and across multiple jurisdictions with a deep understanding of financial markets from both the buy and sell side. Before joining Strate, André held numerous executive roles ranging from treasurer of a commercial bank to chief operating officer positions for several investment management businesses in South Africa and the United Kingdom.
André Nortjé
André Nortjé is Strate’s Chief Executive Officer. He has over 20 years of executive management experience across multiple financial services disciplines and across multiple jurisdictions with a deep understanding of financial markets from both the buy and sell side. Before joining Strate, André held numerous executive roles ranging from treasurer of a commercial bank to chief operating officer positions for several investment management businesses in South Africa and the United Kingdom.
André Nortjé
Chief Executive Officer
BCom (Hons) Financial Management (UP), MCom Finance (cum laude)(Unisa)
André Nortjé is Strate’s Chief Executive Officer. He has over 20 years of executive management experience across multiple financial services disciplines and across multiple jurisdictions with a deep understanding of financial markets from both the buy and sell side. Before joining Strate, André held numerous executive roles ranging from treasurer of a commercial bank to chief operating officer positions for several investment management businesses in South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Elias Masilela has held senior positions across multiple industries, including CEO of the PIC, head of policy analysis at Sanlam, deputy director general economic policy in the National Treasury, and director of research at the Central Bank of Swaziland. He currently serves as the Chairman of DNA Economics, Sanlam Limited and Impact Investing SA as well as commissioner of the 1st & 2nd National Planning Commission. He previously served on the boards of the South African Reserve Bank, the Government Employee Pension Fund, the Airports Company SA and the UN Global Compact Board. He also served as chairman of the UNGC SA Local Network.
He has written and published widely, enjoying nomination to the Top 40 of the Alan Paton Award, 2007. His most influential books are Number 43 Trelawney Park; KwaMagogo (2007) and Larry Simply Larry (2018).
Keith Getz
Lead Independent Non-executive Director
BProc, LLM (UCT)
Keith Getz is a qualified lawyer with deep experience in takeovers and mergers, private equity, corporate restructuring, black economic empowerment transactions, exchange control regulations, commercial law contracts, regulatory compliance and stock exchange listings. In addition, he advises corporate clients nationally and internationally on corporate and commercial matters. Other directorships include Mr Price Group Limited and Spur Corporation Limited.
Louisa Stephens
Independent Non-executive Director
BBusSc (UCT), BCom (Hons)(RAU), CA(SA), CD(SA)
Louisa is an independent financial trader and serves as an independent non-executive director of Multichoice Group, Royal Bafokeng Platinum, Tongaat Hulett and the Institute of Directors in South Africa.
She held a position as the uMnotho Fund Manager at the National Empowerment Fund, and as an investment banker at Rand Merchant Bank. Prior to that, she was General Manager of the Investment and Finance divisions of Nozala Investments and Chief Investment Officer of Circle Capital Ventures.
Louisa served her articles in KPMG’s financial services division.
Mathukana is a qualified Chartered Accountant (SA) with diverse work experience in corporate finance and financial management. Her working career includes, amongst others, employment by Standard Bank as a deal maker (Leveraged and Acquisition Finance), Cadiz Financial Services (Corporate Financier) and Woolworths (Financial Analyst).
Mathukana serves on multiple boards, including Sanlam Limited, Palabora Mining (Pty) Ltd, Stadio Holdings, Alviva Holdings and Contract Services Group Holdings.
Leila Fourie
Non-executive Director
BA (RAU), BA (Hons)(cum laude)(Unisa), MCom (UJ), PhD Economic and Financial Science (UJ), Graduate of Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD)
Leila Fourie is a seasoned business executive having previously served as an executive director of the JSE. Her career of more than 25 years spans the capital markets, payment systems, consulting, investment banking and retail banking. Leila has held multiple senior executive positions and directorships of global portfolios and served on both local and international boards.
Rajesh Ramsundhar
Non-executive Director (alternate)
BCom (Wits), MBA (Gibs)
Rajesh is the Group Head of Standard Bank’s Investor Services business in sub–Saharan Africa where he has held several senior leadership roles, including head of business development, head of product management and head of cash management.
He has over 20 years’ experience in financial services in the areas of banking, securities services, FX and money markets and has worked for both domestic and international blue-chip firms.
Murray Stocks
Non-executive Director
B.Com (University of Natal)
Murray Stocks has wide securities and banking experience, having worked in multiple roles at Nedbank for over 30 years. His broad experience spans treasury, corporate and international banking, Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), programme management, electronic banking, credit cards, cash and cheque operations, global trade and securities custodial services. Through his depth of experience, he is expert on settlement and CSD participant matters.
Ryan Proudfoot
Non-executive Director (alternate)
BAcc (Wits), CA(SA)
Ryan Proudfoot has extensive experience across financial markets and products with specific expertise in trade execution, securities lending, futures clearing, prime broking, custody, market risk management, credit counterparty risk and regulation (including Basel III).
He has previously served as a director on numerous boards including RMB Stockbroking Operations (Pty) Limited and SAFCOM (Pty) Limited. Prior and current management board or memberships include the South African Institute of Stockbrokers, SAFCOM Derivatives Risk Committee, JSE Currency Derivatives Advisory Committee, ASISA’s Hedge Funds Standing Committee and JSE Bonds Advisory Committee.
Alicia Greenwood is the Director of Post Trade Services for JSE Limited, responsible for all clearing and settlement activities in equities, bonds and derivatives markets. Alicia is also the CEO of JSE Clear, the Central Counterparty (CCP) for the derivatives markets. Prior to joining the JSE in 2016, she spent ten years as a director of Standard Bank in various risk and capital management roles in corporate and investment banking. Alicia has also held roles at Discovery and Accenture, focusing on the development, and execution thereof, of financial services’ strategies.
Chris Edwards
Non-executive Director (alternate)
BSocSci Philosophy, PGDip Management (UCT)
Chris Edwards has been a managing principal at Absa for over 10 years where he also heads the Prime Services and Passive Funds businesses. He is also a director of Absa Stockbrokers. Prior to joining Absa, he spent 11 years with Morgan Stanley, based in London and then Hong Kong. During this time, he held a variety of positions, including responsibility for the distribution within the Prime Brokerage & Listed Derivatives businesses.
Mark Murning
Independent Non-executive Director
BCom (Wits)
Mark Murning has extensive experience in financial markets, having worked in several roles across the investment banking, capital market and asset management businesses within the Sanlam Group.
Mark spent 26 years in the Sanlam Group, serving as the CEO of Sanlam Capital Markets, and subsequently as CEO of Sanlam Specialised Finance. He has held several positions, as a board member of divisional companies and on governance committee.
Kabelo Makwane
Independent Non-executive Director
MBA (Wits Business School) BCom (UKZN)
Kabelo Makwane has over 20 years’ information and communications technology experience and is currently Managing Executive for the Cloud, Hosting and Security enterprise business within Vodacom Business. Most recently, he was the Managing Director for the Africa Geo responsible for Accenture Operations, leading the Business Process and Infrastructure Outsource Business across Africa. At Accenture he also held the role of Managing Director for Cloud and Technology Consulting.
Kabelo has also worked at Microsoft, where his last role was Nigeria Country Managing Director. Prior to that he was at Cisco and Unisys Africa. Kabelo has fulfilled board responsibilities in the financial services and public sectors as a non-executive director and as part of independent advisory boards to the state.
Stuart Yates
Non-executive Director
BSc (Hons) Computer Science (Edinburgh, Scotland), Fellow (South African Institute of Financial Markets)
Stuart Yates held a long-established career in financial markets, having first joined the industry through specialised bond trading in 1979. He has held multiple roles in the financial sector including as the Banking Association’s member on the Bond Market Association and a member of the design team for SAFEX. After joining Rand Merchant Bank in 1992, he developed a treasury outsourcing business, headed HR during the FNB merger and was the bank’s representative on Strate’s board for six years. He is currently an independent non-executive director serving on a number of boards.
Strate Charity Shares
Strate Charity Shares (SCS) is an independent non-profit organisation, and joint market initiative from Strate, the JSE, ComputerShare and PSG who provide their services for free to realise the value locked up in odd lots of unwanted securities that could be used to support charitable causes.
It started with David Cobbett, a stockbroker, who had the idea of mobilising the millions of rands locked up in odd lots of shares in listed companies and using the funds for good causes. In 2001, he asked Tom Wixley, recently retired Ernst & Young chairman at the time, to help him make this dream a reality.
Market-wide engagement followed including with the Department of Social Welfare and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) who agreed that the value of any shares donated may be deducted from taxable income, as the scheme is registered under section 18A of the Income Tax Act.
Since its formation, Strate Charity Shares has given worthy causes over R10 million that would otherwise have remained unused.
To view the Strate Charity Shares funding and reporting guidelines, click here
Strate Charity Shares
Strate Charity Shares (SCS) is an independent non-profit organisation, and joint market initiative from Strate, the JSE, ComputerShare and PSG who provide their services for free to realise the value locked up in odd lots of unwanted securities that could be used to support charitable causes.
It started with David Cobbett, a stockbroker, who had the idea of mobilising the millions of rands locked up in odd lots of shares in listed companies and using the funds for good causes. In 2001, he asked Tom Wixley, recently retired Ernst & Young chairman at the time, to help him make this dream a reality.
Market-wide engagement followed including with the Department of Social Welfare and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) who agreed that the value of any shares donated may be deducted from taxable income, as the scheme is registered under section 18A of the Income Tax Act.
Since its formation, Strate Charity Shares has given over R10 million to worthy causes that would otherwise have remained unused.
To view the Strate Charity Shares funding and reporting guidelines, click here
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