Financial wellness: saving and investing made simple
09 July 2024
Essential insights for building and growing your wealth. Learn about saving and investing to help you achieve financial security and long-term goals.
5 min read | 26 min podcast
While there’s no quick and easy answer, there are three elements that can create opportunities that lead to wealth and success:
No one achieves successful career development alone, as demonstrated by insights from our interviews with Theo Baloyi, Peggy-Sue Khumalo, and Itumeleng Merafe. Their participation in the Investec In Conversation panel reveals the importance of partnering with the right people at the right time for growth.
Theo Baloyi, CEO and founder of Bathu
Building your career and giving back through a vision of hope and empowerment.
Theo was a senior associate at PwC in Dubai before founding Bathu in 2015. He was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2019 and won GQ's Business Leader of the Year in 2021.
Early in his life, Theo was fortunate to receive great opportunities, such as furthering his studies in accounting as a result of his father selling his car, working for a top accounting firm, and earning a secondment to the United Arab Emirates.
Still, he was driven to create opportunities for others, in reigniting hope and creating sustainable jobs for people back in Alexandra, where he’d grown up.
This is an important point for the charismatic young entrepreneur. While his own life was changing and he was succeeding in his career, Theo remembers, that his reality wasn't changing.
When he returned from Dubai to visit friends and family in Alexandra, he was again confronted with the stark reality of the community he’d left behind.
When Theo listened to the stories of the unemployed youth in the area, he realised that their situation was not a matter of choice or design, but rather a result of a crushing lack of opportunity.
"So I asked myself, am I going to be a guy who sits in the fancy office, in the UAE behind Burj Khalifa, in my nice suit and tie and look down upon the people of Alexandra and say, you guys are lazy, you don't want to do anything, or am I actually going to be a guy who's going to bring about a solution to my community? And I became a crazy guy. I quit my job, came back home with a sole vision to build a shoe brand that Africans can proudly affiliate with."
Theo made the bold decision to return to South Africa and commit himself to building his own designer brand to uplift others.
With unwavering dedication, Bathu has now achieved the same level of quality and popularity as renowned international brands; it has become a favourite among the young urban demographic.
As the company grows, he says, it retains its core values of empowerment and sustainability – an example of what young people can achieve if they are given the space to pursue their dreams.
* From the 14th annual Brand Africa 100 leading South African brands survey
African artists and brands are starting to have an influence on global culture. Whether you look at it regionally or as a continent, Africa is rich in heritage, culture and diversity, Theo says.
We must incorporate these elements into our ecosystems, products and services to create offerings that can be exported globally, Theo believes. African music is already creating a different narrative for the continent and other fields and industries can follow if we are intentional about it.
"I think we have, for far too long, been at the receiving end of everything: the latest technology, the latest apps, the latest fashion trends, that we have even forgotten what we are capable of. I think the time is now for Africa to start building its own and exporting to the rest of the world."
Peggy-Sue Khumalo, Investec
Harnessing partnerships to shape your career journey and uplift others.
Peggy-Sue’s career path from a small town to becoming a Miss South Africa and then an investment banker demonstrates resilience and authenticity. She made her mark in finance without conforming to typical masculine leadership, proving women can lead on their terms.
Yes, investment banking is a male-dominated industry, Peggy-Sue says, but that doesn't mean you have to conform to its expectations.
Over the years, she’d created her own success and excelled in her own way, without having to adopt a masculine leadership style. She believes that she can bring her own unique qualities and abilities to the industry and thrive as a woman.
For her, it’s about creating opportunities where she can thrive and succeed as a woman.
Early on in her journey, Nelson Mandela not only believed in Peggy-Sue but also wanted to see her progress beyond the platform of being Miss South Africa. Even now, she remains humbled as she never expected someone as extraordinary as him to invest time in her growth.
With Madiba’s influence, former Investec CEO Stephen Koseff became her sponsor and helped shape her career in financial services.
Her mother, who worked as a domestic worker, was the centre of her world, instilling strong values and principles in the young Peggy-Sue. A humble woman, she emphasised that one should never be defined by circumstance – that anyone could achieve their dreams if they remained true to themselves.
The principle of lifting others as you rise deeply resonates with Peggy-Sue. Every day, as she interacts with young people, she strives to embody these principles to honour the spirit of the lessons she learned from Madiba.
While equally important, Peggy-Sue believes mentorship and sponsorship are very different. Sponsorship is so critical because when you have someone backing you when you’re not sitting around the table in a meeting and speaking about your skills, she says. That supporter or patron can be a voice for a woman in her absence.
She believes that empowering women in business is a shared responsibility for both men and women. Men have a significant role to play in understanding and supporting women in these spaces.
From a female perspective, she cautions against assuming that all women have had the same experiences – highlighting the unique challenges faced by women of colour in South Africa. Not every woman’s journey is going to be the same.
It is essential for everyone in the work community to contribute, she says, because we are a community of individuals. Men must rise up and take on the responsibility of partnering with more women in their direct spaces.
To foster better relationships, Peggy-Sue suggests creating spaces where both men and women can come together, exchange experiences and initiate conversations about gender equity and inclusiveness.
Itumeleng Merafe, head of Investec Private Banking SA
Rethinking wealth as a tool for time freedom, personal and career development.
Head of Investec Private Banking South Africa, Itumeleng started his career at Investec in the Global client support centre in 2006, after dropping out of medical school. in the last 18 years, he has navigated through the different divisions in various roles including head of sales for Investec for Business. He received a master’s degree in management of finance and investments from Wits Business School.
We can do our best to prepare, Itumeleng says, but plans don’t always work. Where failure really hurts is when you're only married to the outcome.
If you don't get the anticipated result, people feel like they’ve failed. For Itumeleng, it’s about the preparation in trying to get to the right outcome. If done effectively, he points out, this process offers rich opportunity for learning and personal growth that you can apply to your next goal.
"People use catchphrases all the time, like 'every failure is a lesson.' Yes, it is. But there's also disappointment in it, and I think it's important for us as individuals to acknowledge the place we are in and recognise the emotional impact of the experiences we've had before moving forward."
By doing this, he explains, you develop the ‘muscle’ to effectively absorb and learn from setbacks. Don’t lose sight of the bigger picture. Growth is seldom linear, he says, and you can expect detours.
"Sometimes you have to take a step back now to move forward faster later."
Before working in financial services Itumeleng says he used to equate wealth with money. Now, working in the Private Banking environment has taught him that wealth is far more than that.
Without trivialising its importance, money on its own holds little value, Itumeleng says. The necessity of having basic financial security to support one’s family and survive aside, He says his understanding of wealth has evolved to include the concept of owning one's time.
Real wealth lies in the freedom to pursue activities and experiences that bring us fulfilment – not because we have to but because we choose to.
The most important lesson he’s learned about money and wealth creation, Itumeleng says, is that it's never too early to start and no amount is too small to begin with.
Many of us often think that we'll start saving or investing once we earn a certain amount or reach a specific milestone. Starting early – no matter how little you begin with – can make a difference in the long term.
The best kept secret in wealth creation, he says, is time.
Watch the panel discussion from our Cape Town Investec In conversations event, where Tania Habimana moderates an engaging and insightful conversation between Itumeleng Merafe and Theo Baloyi. They share their personal journeys, discuss their careers, and impart the valuable lessons they have learned along the way.
Watch the panel discussion from our Cape Town Investec In conversations event, where Tania Habimana moderates an engaging and insightful conversation between Itumeleng Merafe and Theo Baloyi. They share their personal journeys, discuss their careers, and impart the valuable lessons they have learned along the way.
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