Welcome to the
GEPF Thought Leadership Conference 2022

Nicolas J. Firzli, LL.M.

• Director-General, World Pensions Council (WPC),
• Co-Chair, EU ASEAN Centre at Singapore Economic Forum (SEF),
• Cofounder & Advisory Board Member, World Bank Global Infrastructure Facility (GIF)

Nicolas J. Firzli is director-general of the World Pensions Council (WPC), the global think-tank & asset owners association. Mr. Firzli is co-chair of the World Pensions Forum (WPF) held annually in a G12/EU capital, coordinator of the G7 Pensions Roundtable held on the sidelines of the G7 Summit, co-chair of the Singapore Economic Forum (SEF APAC+ Summit), and cofounding-member & advisory councillor of the World Bank Group Global Infrastructure Facility (GIF).

He has chaired the main Asset Owners Roundtable of the 2015 Climate Change Conference (Paris COP 21 Summit) and (co) authored and helped develop key notions such as “Modern Trusteeship and Fiduciary Capitalism”, “The SDG–Driven World Economy”, “The Pension Wealth of Nations”, “Sustainable Finance Shifting the Trillions”, “The Geoeconomic Century” and “Infrastructure as an Asset Class.

Nicolas Firzli is a graduate of Canada’s McGill University (Statistics & Financial Economics), an alumnus of the HEC School of Management (MBA Corporate Strategy & Marketing) and the University of Paris Law School (LL.M. Corporate Law, summa cum laude) and has conducted research at the University of Louvain (UCL) Doctoral School of Economics and Management in Waals Brabant.

Daniel Mminele was appointed as the Head of the Presidential Climate Finance Task Team in February 2022.

He has been Independent non-executive director at Alexander Forbes Group Holdings since January 2022 and appointed as chairman since April 2022.

Daniel is a trustee of the Early Care Foundation and also serves as non-executive director on the board of Salzburg Global Seminar, and as member of the Bretton Woods Committee Advisory Council, all non-profit organisations.

He served as Chief Executive of Absa Group Limited until 30 April 2021.

Prior to joining Absa in January 2020, he was a Deputy Governor of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) since July 2009 where he served two 5-year-terms. His responsibilities included Financial Markets, International Economic Relations and Policy as well as the Human and Operations Cluster. He was a member of the Governors’ Executive Committee, the Monetary Policy Committee, Financial Stability Committee, Risk Management Committee and the Prudential Committee. He was the Chairperson of the Reserves Management Committee as well as the Chair of the Board of the Corporation of Public Deposits. During a career spanning nearly 20 years at the South African Reserve Bank, Daniel represented the SARB and South Africa and many international policy meetings on the African Continent and beyond. He also served as the IMF, G20 and BRICS Central Bank deputy for South Africa, as well as the Chairman of the Deputies for the International Monetary Financial Committee (IMFC) of the International Monetary Fund, Washington D.C.

His experience before the SARB included credit-risk analysis, corporate banking, and project and structured finance at private banking institutions in Germany, The United Kingdom (UK) and South Africa.

Qualifications: Associate Certificates (Chartered Institute of Bankers (London) in association with City Polytechnic of London /Guildhall University); German Banking Diploma (Bankkaufmann) from the Chamber of Commerce, Bielefeld, Germany.

In 2018 Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier bestowed the Great Order of Merit to Mminele for his work in furthering German-South African relations. Daniel was also the recipient of the 2019 Life Time Achiever Award of the Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals, South Africa.

BSc. (Mathematical Statistics); B.Com Hons(FAPM); M.Com; CFA Charter holder.

Mr Rikhotso is a seasoned executive, investment manager, business builder and a risk manager with a career spanning over 18 years within the financial services sector. Prior to joining the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) as its Chief Investment Officer (CIO), he was an Executive and Fund Manager at Visio Fund Management (July 2020 to April 2022).

Mr Rikhotso is a dynamic leader who pioneered the first black-owned investment firm to acquire minority equity stakes in asset management companies. He was a founder CEO and Executive Director of Royal Investment Managers (Mar 2016 to Dec 2019). The business flourished into a respectable investment holding entity of four affiliates with assets under management of more than R80bn. In addition to his technical investment skills, he has gained extensive legal, governance and board experience by serving as a director on Boards of Visio Fund Management, Ethos Private Equity, Sesfikile Capital, Royal Investment Managers and Balondolozi.

Mr Rikhotso served as the former Head of Portfolio Management at Investment Solutions (now Alexforbes Investments) for nearly a decade. He managed over R250bn in retirement, medical aid and retail funds across different asset classes and investment products. His career highlight at Alexforbes was winning a Raging Bull award for the Income Fund.

Mr Rikhotso began his career at MCubed Asset Management (now Momentum Outcome Based Solutions), where he was a research analyst and a portfolio manager. He honed his risk management skills at the National Treasury in the Assets & Liabilities Directorate before returning to the private sector.

Mr Rikhotso’s qualifications include:

• BSc (Mathematical, Physical & Statistical Sciences) from the University of Cape Town
• BCom Honours (Financial Analysis and Portfolio Management) from UCT 
• Com (Financial Economics) at the University of Johannesburg Chartered
• Financial Analyst from the CFA Institute in the USA

Adrian Bertrand, MBA, PGCE, BA (STELLENBOSCH)
Co-founder & ESG Education Practice Head
Six Capitals ESG Advisory

Prior to co-founding Six Capitals Advisory with the Alternative Prosperity Group in 2017, Adrian worked as Head: Africa & Middle East for the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). Adrian also served as ESG Manager at the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) from 2011 – 2015, where Adrian was responsible for managing and implementing the GEPF’s Responsible Investment programme.

Through his responsibilities at Six Capitals, Adrian heads up educational content development at Atleha-edu NPC, a financial education platform for retirement fund trustees and fund members, which utilises Consumer Financial Education B-BBEE spend per the provisions of the Financial Sector Code (FSC), to provide financial education resources at no cost to Atleha-edu’s beneficiaries. Furthermore, Adrian also currently serves as an expert facilitator on the ASISA Academy Retirement Fund Trustee Education (RFTE) Responsible Investment workshops offered by the ASISA Academy to retirement fund trustees, principal officers and consultants. Adrian also serves on the CRISA Committee and has assisted with the development of “CRISA 2” a revision of the CRISA Code.

Adrian has written several articles on the topic of responsible Investment which have been published in Atleha-edu, Today’s Trustee, Financial Mail’s Collective Insight, The International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) Annual Yearbook and Responsible Investor, amongst others. Adrian has also served as a Judge for the ICGN’s Annual Global Stewardship Disclosure Awards for the Asset Owner (>GBP60 billion AUM) category for the 2020 and 2021 ICGN Awards.

Chief Executive Officer of South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and Executive Director on the Board of Director.

Abel Sithole is currently the Chief Executive Officer of South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and Executive Director on the Board of Directors.
Previously Abel was the Principal Executive Officer (PEO) of the Government Employees Pension fund and a Senior Researcher and Deputy Director with the Institute for Futures Research at the University of Stellenbosch. He served two terms as Chairman of the Institute of Retirement Funds, served on the Boards of the Financial Planning Institute (FPI) and the Savings Institute of South Africa (SISA). He has served in the financial sector in roles of a principal, trustee, advisor, regulator and policy developer, and spent over 20 years in the insurance and retirement fund industries.

He was the chairperson of the Financial Services Board and the Commissioner of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). He has also served as a member of the Investment Committee of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund.

Abel holds an MA (International Relations) and MPhil (Futures Studies) (University of Stellenbosch) and an MBA (Wits Business School).

 

MANAGING DIRECTOR, NSSF UGANDA

Mr. Richard Patrick Byarugaba is the Managing Director of Uganda’s National Social Security Fund, a semi-autonomous provident fund with more than USD 4 Billion in Assets Under Management.

Mr. Byarugaba was appointed to this position in August 2010. Before joining the Fund, he was an accomplished banker, who served as Managing Director at Nile Bank and Global Trust Bank and as Chief Operating Officer at Barclays Bank Uganda (BBU), which he joined after the acquisition of Nile Bank by BBU.

Mr. Byarugaba has an enviable record in the stewardship and turnaround of financial institutions spanning over three decades in a professional career that started in 1983 at Standard Chartered Bank (SCB).  He rose through the ranks at SCB from Teller to Executive Director Finance in 1992.  In 1994, Mr. Byarugaba moved to their London office as Finance Manager in charge of the Africa region, where he successfully implemented a multi-million pound accounting software for SCB’s finance operations in Africa.

Mr. Byarugaba, a professional accountant (FCCA), holds a BSc degree in Statistics & Economics from Makerere University, an MBA from Edinburgh Business School, and a management diploma from Henley Management College. He is currently a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level II candidate.

He is currently a board member of the National Social Security Fund, Uganda Clays and the Uganda Stock Exchange but previously served on the boards of Standard Chartered Bank, Global Trust Bank, Nile Bank, and Uganda Institute of Banking & Financial Services. He also previously presided over the following organizations in the capacity of Board Chairman/President: Vodafone Uganda, Nakasero Hospital, East and Central Social Security Association (ECASSA), Uganda Institute of Bankers, Hospice Africa Uganda, Kulika Uganda and Palliative Care Association of Uganda.

Mr. Byarugaba is married with two daughters, an avid sports fan and accomplished athlete. He supports Arsenal Football Club and indulges in running as a pastime. He is one of a few Ugandans to complete 42Km marathons in Kampala, Nairobi and London.

Editorial & Strategy Director, Asset.tv

Mark has more than 25 years’ experience in journalism and financial services. Based in London he initially worked for trade magazine Investment Week, winning the Golden Pen award for best new journalist in 1996, the Autif Trade Journalist of the Year Award in 1998 and writing for the national press. He then edited a number of titles covering investment funds, structured products, tax and pensions in the UK and across Europe.

He moved to Asset.tv in 2008, developing content and programme formats and interviewing some of the biggest names in asset management, private equity and alternative investments. He won the AIC broadcaster of the year award in 2018. His professional qualifications include FPC 1,2,3 and the Investment Management Certificate.

 

Managing Director: Third Way Investment Partners

Fulu is an investment professional and entrepreneur with a passion for developmental investments, diversity advancement and inclusivity. She was awarded the Outstanding female professional by ABSIP in 2021. She is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Third Way Investment Partners, a specialist investment firm focusing on infrastructure investing. She currently serves as a director on the board of SAVCA and various portfolio companies of the Third Way Asset Management Group.  She was previously the Investment Manager of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) – the largest pension fund in Africa, where she served on the Investment Committee of the Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund and represented the GEPF on several advisory boards of Private Equity Funds.

Prior to joining GEPF, Fulu was an Executive and Senior Consultant at RisCura, consulting to Pension Funds, Insurance Companies and Medical schemes in Southern Africa. She was an employer elected trustee of the RisCura Provident Fund. She started her career at RMB Asset Management and has over 18 years industry experience.

Fulu holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Econometrics and a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) in Economics from the University of Pretoria. She has completed several short programs in Private Equity at GIBS and Investment Banking Institute. She has also completed programs at the World Bank in Washington DC, in Private Equity, Strategic Asset Allocation, Manager selection and Master Custody.

 

Sonja Keller is an Executive Director at JP Morgan and the Chief Economist for South Africa and oversees macroeconomic and political coverage of Sub-Saharan Africa. FinMedia24 previously named her Economist of the Year, and for more than a decade she has ranked among the top analysts for South Africa in the annual Financial Mail survey. Sonja holds a Master’s and D.Phil from Oxford University, specializing in macroeconometric modeling, and Hons.B.Comm from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Daniel Tenengauzer is Head of Markets Strategy at BNY Mellon. In this role, Danny heads strategy efforts for our clients, providing them with original insights into the world’s asset and currency flows, equipped by the firm’s unique position at the center of the global financial system.

Boasting more than 20 years of cross-asset experience on both the buy and sell sides, Danny is a seasoned global macro researcher, informed by lengthy periods working on four continents. He joined BNY Mellon from Tse Capital Management, a New York-based hedge fund, where he was director of research, overseeing currencies and fixed income exposures globally.

Before Tse, Danny supported foreign exchange and fixed income sales and trading at some of the world’s largest banks, from emerging market debt and FX at Goldman Sachs, to G10 research at Lehman Brothers, and emerging markets fixed income strategy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

He holds an MSc in Finance and Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, an MA in Economics and European Studies and a BA in Economics and International Relations both from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has also been published in academic journals and speaks several languages, including Portuguese, Hebrew and Spanish.

Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Danny is passionate for marine life and scuba diving. For the past seven years he and both his sons have been carefully following coral bleaching and the environmental degradation of marine parks in Cozumel, Mexico. Even though Daniel is a lousy runner, he managed to complete five NYC marathons and one Staten Island half marathon.

 

 Completed his Masters Degree in Industrial Development and BA (Honours) respectively at the University of East Anglia, School of Development Studies, UK. David is the CEO and Principal Officer of the Government Institution Pension Fund (GIPF). Before he joined the Fund he was the founding CEO of the Development Bank of Namibia and prior to that, he was the Executive Director of the Namibia Investment Centre. He is currently the Chairman of the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) and Non-Executive Chairman of Pupkewitz Holdings (Pty) Ltd. David also served as Board member of various corporate entities in Namibia and was Chairman of the SADC Investment Promotion Agencies and was also Chairman of the SADC Development Finance Institution Network. He served as Commissioner of the National Planning Commission and was a member of the President’s Economic Advisory Council.

Patrick Kirby is a senior economist in the World Bank’s Prospects Group. He is one of the lead authors of the flagship Global Economic Prospects report, which presents the institution’s view on the global economy and associated policy challenges for developing countries. He also coordinates the World Bank’s Global Monthly report, which monitors major macroeconomic, financial, and commodity market developments, and routinely prepares briefings on the global economy for senior management. Prior to joining the World Bank, Mr. Kirby was Principal Economist at the Bank of Canada’s International Projection Division, where he contributed to the Monetary Policy Report and the Bank’s global macroeconomic model.

STC Digital Financial Services expert at IFC , Africa

Passionate and experienced DFS expert with a proven track record of successfully building commercial digital payment solutions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Lebo Mokgabudi has launched and expanded digital financial solutions for the low income consumers
in Africa and built B2B partnerships with corporates to embed fintech solutions in the education, retail and agriculture value chains. Lebo has led cross functional teams made up of developers, product managers, risk and compliance managers and sales and distribution managers and brings forth strong leadership skills and the strategic thinking necessary to bring out the best in people. Adept in business development and stakeholder engagement with C-suite decision makers, Lebo has facilitated workshops with regulators, innovators, banks and development funding institutions on innovative financing models, fintech and financial inclusion. A leading female fintech thought leader in Africa, Lebo has won awards and spoken on panels at various local and international conferences. Lebo is an Independent Non-Executive Director on various boards, Transaction Junction, Old Mutual Alternative Risk Transfer Limited and serves on the Investment Committee of Savant Venture Fund to increasing funding to early stage entrepreneurs.

 

Arunkumar Vadivelu is a Senior Investment Officer at the Investment Office of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Investment Office is responsible for the management and investment of the Staff Retirement Plan (a defined benefit pension plan) and the Retired Staff Benefits Investment Account (a post-employment benefits plan). With over 18 years of experience, Arun’s responsibilities span across the investment management, risk management and investment operation functions for multiple asset classes. His role also includes developing and implementing ESG and Systems Modernization initiatives. Prior to joining the IMF, Arun worked as a consultant to international organizations on topics related to financial services and technology domain.

Chairperson, GEPF

Mr. Mogajane joined National Treasury in 1999 as a Deputy Director and has worked in various areas including among others, the Intergovernmental Relations, Provincial Budget Analysis and the International Economic Relations divisions. Between 2007 and 2010, he represented South Africa at the Executive Board of the World Bank as senior advisor for Africa Group 1 countries.

Between 2010 and May 2014, Mr. Mogajane was appointed as the Chief of Staff in the Ministry of Finance and later as the acting Chief Operating Officer from May 2014 until May 2015. He was later appointed Deputy Director-General responsible for the Public Finance division at National Treasury a position he occupied since June 2015.

Following a request by former DG Lungisa Fuzile to shorten his contract to end in May 2017 instead of May 2018, Mr. Mogajane was appointed as Director-General of the National Treasury in June 2017.

Prior to his appointment at the National Treasury, Mr. Mogajane was a Student Housing Manager and part-time lecturer at Durban Westville University. He was also lecturer in Public Management at Technikon SA and ML Sultan Technikon and Deputy Director at Environmental and Development Agency Trust.

Mr. Mogajane has two honours degrees in Public Management and Human Resources and Industrial Relations obtained at the University of Durban Westville. He also completed a Master’s degree in Public Management at the University of Maryland (USA), a Management Advancement Programme at Wits Business School and a Programme in Budgeting and Public Financial Management at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

 

Shafeeq Abrahams is the Chief Executive and Principal Officer of the Eskom Pension and Provident Fund, a defined benefit fund serving approximately 80,000 members and Assets Under Management of approximately R170 billion.

Shafeeq is a non-executive director of Batseta Council of Retirement Funds in South Africa and serves on the advisory boards of the World Pension Summit and AssetTV. Shafeeq is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

 

Philip Dongsoo Hong is Senior Financial Officer and Engagement Manager of Reserves Advisory and Management Partnership (RAMP) at World Bank Treasury. He is responsible for the coordination and development of technical assistance for RAMP clients and partners.

Prior to joining the World Bank, Philip worked at Bank of Korea (BOK) in various positions for more than twenty-five years – mostly in reserve management, financial stability, and research. He was Deputy Director-General and Head of Investment Strategy Team in Reserve Management Group from 2014-2015, responsible for the tactical asset allocation and active management of the BOK’s foreign reserves. From 2011 to 2013, he served as Head of Global Agenda Team coordinating G20 meetings and working groups such as Capital Flow Management and Global Liquidity. He also served as Head of Strategic Planning Team responsible for bank-wide strategic priorities and operational risk management. Prior to that, he was an Investment Officer at BOK’s New York Office, managing USD portfolios comprising Treasuries, Agencies, Corporates, MBS and ABS during the global financial crisis from 2007 to 2010.

Outside the Bank of Korea, in 2002, he worked for Secretariat of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision as a visiting research fellow, leading a survey on risk management for non-G10 countries regarding Basel II. From 2006 to 2007, he served as a senior advisor to the Senior Secretary to the President for economic affairs, coordinating inter-departmental issues in Korea. 

Philip earned a Ph.D. in Economics from Dongguk University in Seoul and MA in Economics from University of Michigan. He also earned his MBA and BA in Business Administration from Korea University in Seoul. Philip is a CFA charter holder

 

Head Private Sector Operations, African Development Bank

Mr. Ezekiel Odiogo is a global investment banker, thinker, cross-industry expert, and leader – spanning multiple sectors (Energy, Transport, Technology Media Telecoms (TMT), Financial Services, and SME Development). As Head, Private Sector Investment Operations at the Africa Investment Forum (AIF), African Development Bank, Mr. Odiogo led the AIF – the fully transactional investment platform, from concept with no historical precedent, into record breaking back to back progressive successes, translating the platform into “Africa’s premier investment marketplace”, in just 2 years, with a growing tracked portfolio of US$115+ Billion, US$78 Billion Investment interest secured, and over US$3.1 Billion worth of deals closed under a year cycle. AIF is globally acclaimed by the G20 Eminent Persons Group (EPG).

Mr. Odiogo has held several leadership positions at the African Development Bank, managing multi-billion-dollar portfolio traversing advisory and investment operations including PPPs and Funds, across industries and infrastructure asset class. He successfully led and championed several landmark initiatives such as the multi-billion Lusophone Compact (LC) – an investment platform to accelerate infrastructure investments into Lusophone Africa Countries, as well as Boost Africa, and Rwanda Innovation Fund, to deepen the continent’s venture capital market development. He is notable for leveraging innovative finance structures and mechanisms to attract private sector investment at scale, particularly institutional investors, to deliver first of its kind signature transactions – such as US$280 Million Air Cote D’Ivoire fleet modernization project, US$1.5 Billion Kampala – Jinja Toll Expressway project, amongst many others. Before the AfDB, Mr. Odiogo held senior positions as Investment & TMT Lead at the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), where he led from scratch the establishment of the Bank’s global TMT operations, growing the portfolio to over US$1 Billion within a year, part of the team that pioneered the Structured Finance/PPP Unit, and as Business Development Manager at the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), IDB.  Before his sojourn to development banking, Mr. Odiogo held key positions in various blue-chip multinationals such as Shell International, nPower Business Energy, UK, and Santander Bank, UK.

Mr. Odiogo is a Sloan Fellow and earned an MBA at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. He also has Masters degrees from the London School of Economics (LSE), UK, and Bradford University, UK, in addition to executive education at the University of Oxford, UK, Duke University, USA, and Queens University, Canada. A UNESCO Fellow, he is a well sought speaker, advisor, and industry expert. He is also a serial entrepreneur and was Legatum and MasterCard Foundation Fellows at the MIT Legatum Center for Development & Entrepreneurship, and at MIT Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship where he sat at the advisory board of its Global Founders’ Skills Accelerator, and mentored at the MIT COVID Challenge, advising several global ventures.

Onno Steenbeek (1967) is managing director of Strategic Portfolio Advice at APG Asset Management. This department (30fte) is responsible for APG’s advisory services regarding ALM and strategic asset allocation, as well as investment and pension innovation. The quantitative models employed by the department are used to optimize the financial strategy of associated pension funds (with AuM totaling around Euro 600 billion), for overall risk budgeting and for reporting purposes. In addition, the department plays a central role in the transformation of Dutch pension contracts.

Steenbeek also holds a Chair in Pension Fund Risk Management at the Erasmus University School of Economics in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Apart from lecturing on various finance subjects, he conducts academic research and publishes books and articles.

In addition to his primary affiliations to APG and Erasmus University, Steenbeek is member of the investment committee of Unilever pension fund, and chairman of the investment committee of charity foundation Volkskracht in the city of Rotterdam. He is also a member of the Occupational Pensions Stakeholder Group (OPSG) of EIOPA, the European Pensions supervisor in Frankfurt.

Philip earned a Ph.D. in Economics from Dongguk University in Seoul and MA in Economics from University of Michigan. He also earned his MBA and BA in Business Administration from Korea University in Seoul. Philip is a CFA charter holder