Investec’s future after Stephen Koseff
Thanks to the hands-on approach of its management, Investec has gone from strength to strength
Investec’s growth into a R100bn business has not been without setbacks. But without the drive of the three key players, CEO Stephen Koseff, MD Bernard Kantor and the low-profile head of risk and finance Glynn Burger, it might have remained a leasing company lending money to doctors and accountants. No top management, not even the founders of RMB, has taken such a hands-on approach to a business. Without them it would have resembled a leasing-focused bank such as Sasfin, which only recently took the leap into wealth and asset management — long after Investec developed a dominant position in these sectors. Investec is about 30 times larger than Sasfin. Koseff says he was sceptical of Investec founder Ian Kantor’s ambition to become the next Salomon Brothers, when the biggest deal Investec was doing was to lend R10,000 to a doctor. Yet Salomon Brothers has disappeared into Citibank, and Investec, if not quite global, is undoubtedly an international house.In 1981, when Investec got its ...
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