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Will Ridge

Will Ridge

Head: Equities

I am the Head of Equities at Investec. The equities cluster provides execution, advisory, financing and risk management solutions to the institutional and corporate client base. I have 19 years’ experience in financial markets across equity sales, trading and as a hedge fund manager. I joined Investec in 2016 as Head of Institutional Equities. Prior to joining Investec, I was a director and Head of South African Equity Sales at Merrill Lynch where I ran the number one ranked sales team. I also briefly ran a market neutral hedge fund at Fairtree Capital.

Background/experience

I joined Investec from Fairtree Capital (one of the largest hedge fund groups in SA) where I ran a market-neutral hedge fund for a short period of time. Prior to this I ran the top-rated SA equities sales desk at Merrill Lynch SA. I have worked in financial markets for over a decade across cash equities and derivatives in both a trading and an equity sales capacity.

What drives me

I am hugely proud of the broader equities cluster and the extent to which we continue to grab market share from our competitors. Investec is firmly committed to South Africa, we have a unique value proposition in the current market and will continue to add value to our clients’ investment processes and hopefully help them beat the market.

My interest

Outside of work I try and spend as much time as possible with my young family (my daughter is three and my son is one). They currently keep me away from the golf course (where I used to spend a lot of time). I have a passion for property, collecting sneakers and reading – mostly crime novels.