South Africa plays a key role in the region with one of the most sophisticated financial sectors in the world, but last year was a challenging one. What can we expect from the financial sector in 2017?

Everyone is looking towards the political direction the country is going to take with the new government.

From the point of view of foreign investors, there are going to be more outflows in South Africa than inflows. However, there will be opportunities for black individuals with the program the government is promoting. Black empowerment will play a big role in South Africa.

Nisela Capital was established in 2011. What has been your biggest accomplishment?

The biggest achievement for an entrepreneur is being able to build a sustainable business. It is difficult to start with low capital, investing in people and resources, especially in financial services. Though you may have corporate experience, it takes a long time to build a brand, especially one that is trusted. People would rather trust Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan. It takes a long time to compete with them on a global level because they have a lot more resources and networks.

I am most proud of the fact that we are still around, that we have developed a solid base as a platform to grow.

Many local financial companies are concerned about socio-economic transformation in terms of black management. What sets you apart in that context?

We are trusted advisors. A large part of our business is advising corporate finance. We are very close with our clients in order to understand their needs in detail and be able to tailor our advice in order to grow with them.

In a private equity context, this means we see transactions much earlier than the rest of the market. Other companies are listed fund managers. We operate in an unlisted space. This enables us to find transactions or right access to those transactions. This is our skill set.

How do you gain clients’ trust?

Most of the relationships have been held for over a decade. When I am sitting and having a conversation with them, they are aware that I know and understand the history of where they come from. Also, our values lie on the advisory side – we only make profit when our clients do. You cannot buy relationships. It takes many years to develop them.

Only 5 years after founding Nisela Capital, you acquired GENREC Engineering and Murray & Roberts Holdings. What drove you to take that decision and what has been the impact on Nisela?

Over time our balance sheet is growing. That enables us to do larger transactions. We did smaller transactions that happened under the radar that we funded from our own balance sheet. That ability to finance transactions led to the natural evolution of raising a fund.

Nonetheless, you need to demonstrate a track record. We can have a corporate CV in terms of transactions and deals done but it takes a long time to gain the trust of institutional investors in your businesses and your investment processes. The 5-year period was necessary to demonstrate that track record. You have to build trust and successfully raise a first fund.

Only 4% of investment funds are managed by black firms. What role is Nisela Capital playing in developing talented black asset managers?

Nisela Capital is helping to build the next generation of investment professionals. We have a mentorship and graduate program. We support graduates with potential – younger rising stars. We will also start supporting scholars going through university.

Is it your dream to one day compete with the big multinationals?

We are about 10 years away from that, but we did incorporate Nisela Capital Limited in the UK in October last year. We have already started the groundwork to move out there. I am not sure that it is the best move or if that is where we will go, but we are operating in a global market, so we will need a presence in the UK in the not too distant future.