BACKSTORY: Darryl Moodley of Sanlam Corporate

What’s your one top tip for doing a deal?

There doesn’t always have to be a winner and a loser. With enough preparation, there is an “I win and you win” deal that can be uncovered.

What was your first job?

My first formal (post-university) job was as an actuarial specialist at Metropolitan Life. However, I consider my first real job to be during high school where I delivered newspapers daily in my neighbourhood.

How much was your first pay cheque, and how did you spend it?

My first month’s salary at Metropolitan Life was about R12,000. Most of it went towards paying my rent and security deposit!

What is the one thing you wish somebody had told you when you were starting out?

Focus on the “who” more than the “what”. We are all in the people business, and behavioural dynamics are ultimately what drives progress.

If you could fix only one thing in South Africa, what would it be?

Undoubtedly our education system. Education is the only true social equaliser.

What’s the most interesting thing about you that people don’t know?

Travelling is one of my favourite hobbies, though I haven’t done as much of it recently. I have travelled to 32 countries and about 50 cities.

What’s the worst investment mistake you’ve made?

It may have not been the largest monetary loss, but the biggest mistake I’ve made was investing in cryptocurrencies at the top of earlier cycles and subsequently selling at the bottom of those cycles! If I had only “hodled”.

What’s the best investment you've ever made? And how much of it was due to luck?

Investing in my professional education and personal development has been the best investment, and the one that continues to pay dividends. One can’t, and shouldn’t, deny the impact of luck on one’s life outcomes. But as the saying goes, luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

What is the hardest life lesson you’ve learnt?

You can’t go back in time to do things differently.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Loyalty, especially when it is at the expense of integrity.

What is something you would go back and tell your younger self that would impress them?

Back yourself, always.

Was there ever a point at which you wanted to trade it all in for a different career? And if so, what would that career be?

I’d trade it in for being a professional sportsperson, but with the proviso that I can thereafter transition to my current career!

If you were President Cyril Ramaphosa, what would you change, or do, tomorrow? 

Usher in a new era of younger leaders to key government roles, as they are better positioned to drive change.