A woman’s view on the world of investments – Azola Mayekiso

We need investment policies that future-proof our economy

From Ngcuka to running one of the largest asset management businesses in the country. Tell us more about your path into asset management.

I spent the first 11 years of my life in Ngcuka in the Eastern Cape, before my mother moved us to KZN, where I was introduced to the English language as my mother enrolled us in a multi-racial school. After matric I moved to Cape Town to study towards a Business Science degree at the University of Cape Town. Going to university was the best decision of my life.

During my honours year an older friend pointed me towards investment consulting and mentioned the largest company in the space, Alexander Forbes. So, I approached Alexander Forbes with my CV, and soon afterwards their asset consulting team called me to arrange an interview with the chief actuary of the Alexander Forbes group, Mr Neil Lloyd. I guess that intimidating interview prepared me for any intimidating situation I would encounter for the rest of my life. I secured the job and that is where I got introduced to the world of investments and asset management.

Except for a stint in the Netherlands and the UK studying towards an MBA and and MA respectively, I’ve been in the investment industry ever since.

Azola Mayekiso
CEO of Sanlam Investment Management

What is the best investment you’ve ever made?

I invested in a share linked to my employ in my third job. The company listed at R1 in 2007 and by the time I bought the shares in 2008, it was a penny stock (due to the global credit crisis that hit the AltX shares the most – with corrections of up to 60% to 80% in certain instances). By the time I exited the investment in October 2014, it was trading at R1.60 – a more than 100% return over the period. After saving up, I have more capital to play with now, so the real excitement is only starting in terms of how my portfolio of stocks is going to perform for the next five years.

What do you view as the biggest investment opportunity often overlooked by advisers?

I’m a fundamental patriot and a firm believer in the saying ‘charity begins at home’. In the case of South Africa, the country has unique problems based on its history and I think the notion of long-term capital being allocated as though we are a normal society is disappointing. We have an acute unemployment problem, an infrastructure crisis (social infrastructure in particular – housing and student accommodation), we have tracks of land lying fallow; yet the world is already experiencing a food security problem. So what remains curious to my own mind is why regulators, allocators of long-term capital and their advisers are not getting together and crafting investment policies that will future-proof this economy.

If I’m to put my conventional lens back on, I think that advisers do not place much emphasis on dividend yield type strategies and allocating money specifically towards them and I think that’s a missed opportunity.