BACKSTORY: MJ Davis of FNB Retail Loans

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

Negotiate until you reach an outcome that leaves both sides equally satisfied and dissatisfied. A deal that is too one-sided never works, in my experience. 

What was your first job?

I was a waiter and barman for a catering company over weekends and school holidays.

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

My first proper pay cheque was R7,000, and I used most of it to pay my first and last month’s rent on the place I was moving into.

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

Learn to code. Technology is a key part of most modern-day businesses, and always being able to keep up with the techies would help.

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

Our primary education system — some of the statistics around children’s ability to read and write are very depressing, and we will not reverse the high unemployment rate if we don’t have a better-educated country.

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

I’ve run a sub-two-hour half-marathon and ridden a sub-four-hour Cape Town Cycle Tour, despite my limited athletic ability.

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

I invested in bitcoin because I had fomo, without any real understanding of how it actually worked. 

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

The first townhouse my wife and I bought in Newlands in Cape Town in 2014. There was some luck, but we purposely bought next door to one of the most popular high schools in the area, so we were able to sell it above our asking price in 2020. 

What’s the best book you’ve read this year, and why did you like it?

I only read fiction as it helps me switch off in the evenings, and my favourite author at the moment is David Baldacci.

What’s the hardest life lesson you’ve learnt so far?

Even when you have given your best, things outside your control will derail the best-laid plans. So, I’ve learnt to focus on the things that I can control and not let external factors distract myself and my team too much from the end goal.

What phrase or bit of jargon irks you the most?

“Let’s take it offline.” Instead of creating the need for another meeting, I prefer to have the discussion there and then.

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

I suffered from terrible motion sickness as a child, so I would never have believed that I now fly around 50 times a year for work and holidays.

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

Follow through on one of the many big commitments he has made over the past five years. There is a serious lack of confidence in our government now, and only decisive action to help solve issues such as load-shedding, unemployment and corruption will help improve investor confidence in South Africa.