Author: WIFN Editor

Maya is a well-known South African personal finance journalist and author of Maya on Money: Implement your Money Plan. She has twice won the prestigious Sanlam Award for Excellence in Financial Journalism for the category of Consumer Financial Education.

Maya is editor of My Money My Lifestyle, the personal finance section of national Sunday newspaper City Press. She edited the South African version of Dave Ramsey’s best seller The Total Money Makeover.

Maya is a regular columnist and commentator across several media channels including magazines, radio and television and is a popular speaker at both local and international events where she provides a consumer’s perspective on the financial industry. She also provides money management workshops for employees.

Prior to becoming a financial journalist in 2003, Maya worked for Investec Private Bank as a consultant on their direct investment desk, then for a stockbroking company where she developed their private client trading desk and headed the offshore investment division.

Maya has a Bachelor of Arts in English and an Honours degree in Economics from the University of the Witwatersrand.

Janet has been in the financial services industry for more than 10 years, previously as a director of Hugo Capital and currently as a director of Sterling Private Clients. In 2006, she started and ran the Sunday Times Wealth Forum where she presented to over 150 members of the public on general topics of financial planning and investment management. Later, Janet hosted the Finance Week Wealth Forum, involving series of published articles and public presentations.

She has been actively involved with FPI since 2009 and was elected to chair the FPI Investment Competency Committee since 2010. In June last year, Janet was elected to the FPI Board of Directors as a non-executive director.

Shireen is pursuing her dream.  Her mantra for 2018 is: Escape the Ordinary!

In 2016, after 14 years at GIBS and compelled by her passions and leadership purpose, she founded Chengadu Advisory.  Her mandate?  To help organisations transform and become more inclusive through leadership and strategic solutions. Her commitment to ethical and moral leadership has grown out of her values and board experience.

Shireen has an Executive MBA through UCT and a Master’s Degree in Education. She has paused her Doctorate while she grows Chengadu Advisory. Her consulting focuses on the intersectionality of Gender, Race and Class and includes research, and the design and implementation of plans to address gaps in corporates. She advises and mentors business leaders.

Shireen lectures in open, corporate and MBA elective programmes, both locally and outside South Africa. She is co-author of the book: Women Leadership in Emerging Markets, commissioned by Routledge New York, and is a frequent keynote speaker across diverse sectors.

Shireen was one of Finweek’s 10 Women to Watch in 2014, and was a finalist in Top Businesswomen of the Year Award category at the 11^th annual Standard Bank Top Women Awards.

By invitation of the Vice Chancellor, Shireen is currently devising a Turnaround Strategy and implementation plans for the Department of University Relations at the University of Pretoria.

Sunél Veldtman: CEO of Foundation Family Wealth CFA®, CFP®

Sunél Veldtman is the visionary behind Foundation Family Wealth. She has a 21-year history in finance and has advised and consulted to some of the wealthiest families in South Africa. Sunél is passionate about helping people utilise their resources to bring balance and happiness to their lives.

Prior to launching Foundation, Sunél was a director at BJM Private Client Services. She was also a founding member of the firm’s management team. In her tenure of 17 years at the firm, she contributed to building a leading South African private client business. Sunél’s experience also includes trading on the money market, bond and equity markets, both locally and abroad, portfolio management, retirement planning and private client wealth management. With her background in economics and her deep understanding of the financial markets, Sunél has become a sought-after wealth manager.

Before her engagement at BJM Private Client Services, Sunél worked in institutional asset management and life insurance, where she gained experience in market research, investment marketing and fund management. Sunél is also the author of ‘Manage Your Money, Live Your Dream’, a financial guide for women. Sunél has the unique ability to make complicated financial matters straightforward and applicable. As a workshop facilitator and author, Sunél inspires individuals to use their money to live the life of their dreams.

She has a particular interest in financial wellness for women. Sunél holds an Honours Degree in Economics, is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a Certified Financial Planner as well as a Member of the Institute of Stockbrokers and the Financial Planning Institute.

Sunél is married to Corporate Financier, Pieter Veldtman, and is a mother of three. She loves
gardening, playing the piano and spending time on the family’s farm in the Karoo.

Kerrin Land, CEO of Old Mutual Wealth, describes herself as puzzle-solver at heart.  “I love taking complex concepts and turning them into easy solutions for clients, as well as steamlining intertwined systems and processes to create business value,” she says.

While Kerrin has spent most of her career in one organisation, being Old Mutual, her range of skills and adaptable disposition have allowed her to make a valuable contribution across a wide spectrum of business sectors: investment product development, investment teams, distribution and marketing, business strategy and planning, and actuarial pricing and valuations.  She played a senior business leader role over nine years.

Now, having been appointed as CEO of Old Mutual Wealth in 2016, Kerrin works on the ultimate puzzle: getting people with complex personalities, cultures and perspectives aligned, engaged and excited about delivering great outcome for clients and shareholders.

Kerrin sees herself as a closet introvert who loves her two dogs, her two young children and her husband … not necessarily in that order!  In her rather limited free time, she reads, cooks, climbs and hikes, with the occasional bad squash or golf game thrown in.

Women In Finance Network invites you to an inspiring evening of perfect pairings…

Locally crafted gin and tonic – Hanneli van der Merwe, Founder and Managing Director of local craft tonic, Barker & Quin, does a tantalising gin and tonic tasting for us, while sharing her story of shaping her future and living her dreams.

Delicious food and wine – Stephanie Wiid, winemaker at Fairview Winery and co-owner of Thistle and Weed wine, does a delicious pairing of wine with our meal and shares her journey to becoming one of SA’s highly rated young winemakers.

You and your money journey – Certified Financial Planner®, ICF Coach and New Money Story Mentor®, Director at Chartered Wealth Solutions, and Founder of WIFN, Kim Potgieter, inspires you to understand your relationship with money in order to create your dream life.

Date: Wednesday, 29 November
Time: 18h00 for 18h30
Venue: The One and Only
Fee: R375 per person, dinner included
Book your ticket now, click here!

Don’t miss out – these events are always fully booked!
Why not invite a colleague or friend to share the evening with?

Shape Your future, Live Your dream …

And join Women In Finance Network for an event to challenge you to make your career dream a reality.

Many women have both the skills and the vision to become entrepreneurs …

but hesitate to take that step.  Marylou Kneale, Founder of Living Facts and

SAMRA accredited researcher, shares why women should consider entrepreneurship … and reasons why they don’t!

Living Facts’ research was commissioned by Sage Foundation, and a representative will share the Foundation’s rationale behind the study.

Kim Potgieter, Director at Chartered Wealth Solutions, and Founder of WIFN, introduces us to the concept of Intrapreneurship … and shares her unique story

of how you can create your own entrepreneurial enterprise – without leaving

your current position!

Be encouraged, inspired and informed by RSVPing ‘Yes’ to our

WIFN breakfast on 

Date:Thursday 28 September

Time: 7h30 for 8h00

Venue: 54 on Bath

click here for directions

RSVP: holly@wifn.co.za by Friday 22 September 

Fee: R350 per person, breakfast included

Send proof of payment to holly@wifn.co.za to confirm your booking.

Payment Details:

Investec

Account number: 50009521329

Branch code: 580105

Reference: WIFN “Your name”

Please specify any special dietary requirements.

Don’t miss out – these events are always fully booked!

Why not invite a colleague – she will benefit so much!

30% of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professionals in South Africa are now women – a record high, according to The Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa.  Women In Finance Network caught up with Demi White, as she graduated – second in the country – with her Post-Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning.

How did you come to choose Financial Planning as a career?

Career uncertainty following my schooling led me to register for a general degree, in the hopes that a broader education would open up a specific direction for me.

Armed with my degree, I applied to join a financial planning academy. I recall being unsure about being admitted to the graduate programme as I was only 19 at the time! I also needed to be able to provide for myself financially, so earning an income while being trained as a financial planner was very appealing.

After a number of gruelling interviews, I was accepted and this is where my financial planning career began.

How much exposure did you have to financial planning as a career during your education?

I first encountered financial planning at the end of my first year at university when I heard about the financial planning academy. I wasn’t looking for financial planning, it found me!

Why do you think so few women have entered and are entering this profession? 

Just as I was ignorant of financial planning as a career when I left school, it’s possible that many other women are not aware of the opportunity to have a career in financial planning. I do believe that awareness is increasing, though, and so more women are entering the profession.

Briefly describe your current work day.  What do you enjoy most about what you do?

I am currently working as a business development consultant, enabling financial planners to provide their clients with better advice.

I typically spend my day meeting with the various financial planners in my panel at their offices. I enjoy using my knowledge gained through studying and my time as a financial planner to assist the financial planners to uplift their business. I am able to be creative and entrepreneurial to come up with ideas to assist them. I also learn something new every day and every day is different; it keeps me on my toes and is very exciting.

To achieve your CFP designation, you had to work and study at the same time – how did you manage this?

I have worked and studied at the same time for the past four years. It is not easy, but with good time management and planning I could find a balance between all my responsibilities. Keeping the end goal in mind helped me to remain focused.

What would you say to young women looking at a career in financial planning?

Financial planning is hard work and high pressure, but very rewarding.

What are you looking forward to in terms of your career going forward?

I look forward to expanding my knowledge and experience to become better at what I do. I don’t know what doors will open in the future, but I know the possibilities are endless!

Tell us something about you we don’t know.

I am a perfectionist, hardworking, and goal oriented, and when I am not working you can find me on the athletics track.

Women In Finance Network Cape Town hosts Debbie Goodman-Bhyat for our mindfulness event -Tuesday 23 May 2017.

Debbie Goodman-Bhyat BA LLB; Entrepreneurial Growth Forum (London Business School); ACC (Associate Coaching Course)

CEO, Jack Hammer

Debbie is the founder and CEO of Jack Hammer, rated one of South Africa’s top 3 executive search firms.

For almost 20 years she has invested in helping people get more out of life and work – building a team of impassioned professionals within Jack Hammer, and in finding great leaders for organisations throughout Africa.

Jack Hammer consults to some of the region’s top blue chip corporates, global multinationals, and private enterprises, with a focus on senior management, executive and board level appointments.

Her insights and stories have found their way into the media, where she appears regularly on television, radio and in print, and as a keynote speaker at conferences. She has recently published her first book, “IntheFlow – Taking Mindfulness to Work”, as part of her mission to share ideas around new ways of leading.

Debbie’s distinctive style and vision may come from her somewhat unconventional background. In her ‘first’ career, she was an award-winning contemporary dancer and choreographer…while completing her law degree.

She is also a founding member of the Cape Town Chapter of EO, a global entrepreneurship organization of 12 000 members – she currently serves on EO’s Regional Council for the MEPA Region.

She is married to Zaheer, a film producer. They have 2 young daughters and live in Cape Town.

Women In Finance Network in partnership with our partners for 2017: Old Mutual Wealth, Allan Gray and Investec Asset Management are proud to host Debbie for our first event for the year. Let’s start the year off more mindfully!

Don’t miss out book now

• Tuesday, 23 May 2017, 17:30 for 18:00
• Radisson Blu Hotel Waterfront, Beach Road, Granger Bay, Cape Town
• Fee: R350 per person, includes dinner and drinks for the evening
• Click here to buy your tickets now through Quicket – Limited tickets available.  Last day to buy tickets is Wednesday 17 May 2017

And rob yourself in the process!

Financial Planner, Lynette Wilkinson, shares how she regrets accepting a commission from a client to create an estate plan – without being able to do a comprehensive review of their assets … and why she has resolved not to take on such an assignment again. She gives tips on how to make the most of your relationship with your planner.

Good intentions pave the way

One of the most satisfying things about my role as a financial planner is to guide clients in achieving their intentions with their money.  One aspect is creating an estate plan that will give effect to their wishes, as their legacy to their family.   This goal is difficult – no, impossible – to achieve when your client is reluctant to share details of his assets.

My clients were well-intentioned.  They shared a vision of wanting to teach their children sensible money management and to leave a legacy for at least the next five generations.  Some of their assets are businesses that could well provide both an income and employment for their children and grandchildren in the future.

Their aim in meeting with me was to devise an estate plan that included reviewing their existing trust.  In the event of their simultaneous deaths, they wished their assets to be transferred into that trust. They brought to our first meeting their wills, their existing trust deed and their marriage certificate, to show whether they had wed in community of property or out of community of property, and whether the latter was with or without the accrual system – of course, this has a huge impact on the estate plan.

Disclosure makes the deal real

Unfortunately, while their goals were certainly noble ones, I was in no position to guarantee that those goals would be achieved. Why not?  My clients simply did not want to disclose detailed and relevant information about their assets and liabilities. I did not know the values of the assets, or whether they were owned or ceded. In the absence of these facts, I was unable to give comprehensive feedback, as I was not able to understand the values of assets, and the cash flow and tax implications of any actions we might recommend.

Why does this matter?

Let’s take the strategy of transferring the couple’s companies into trust on death.  Without knowing the values of the assets, I am unsure how much Capital Gains Tax would be triggered, and if so, how much liquidity (available cash) there is in the estate to pay that tax.  In addition, Estate Duty is likely to be levied against the estate as a result of the transfer of these assets into trust.  Were there to be insufficient funds to pay these taxes, the businesses might have to be sold in order to generate liquidity to satisfy SARS.

Were the business, however, to be sold rather than transferred, the monies could then more easily be placed in the trust, without attracting the same amount of tax.  Alternatively, I could advise that, in the case of one spouse predeceasing the other, the best route would be to bequeath the companies to the surviving spouse, thereby taking advantage of the Section 4(q) deduction, which exempts spouses of any Estate Duty on that asset and defers the Capital Gains Tax to the second dying spouse.

Partner with your planner

Of course, you can go online or to your local bank branch, and obtain an off-the-shelf Will – there you will be asked no questions, and any complications that may later emerge will only then be able to be resolved … often to the detriment of the estate and its beneficiaries.

I am also aware of a local legal company that charged R40,000 to redo a trust deed, and who followed much the same superficial process of not even looking at the wills, but simply creating a trust according to the clients’ stated wishes but without flagging any of the potential pitfalls.

The result of this kind of approach is, ironically, that the intentions of the clients’ are not fulfilled.

Clients approach financial planners because we hold the expertise that they most often do not.  It is therefore my moral responsibility to advise my clients in the best way possible … and that cannot be done with just a slice of the picture.

So, here are some tips on how to make the best of your relationship with your planner, especially regarding creating an estate plan:

1. Understand that an estate plan cannot be created without your planner understanding your financial plan – the two work in tandem.
2. Build a relationship of trust with your planner that will allow you to feel free to disclose the necessary information for her to devise your own unique financial and estate plan – she wants your intentions to be fulfilled, so help her to facilitate that.
3. Share your dreams for your family and the generations that follow with your planner:

• Is the intention for your businesses to generate income or employment or both for your children?
• How much of the family’s wealth will the children use?
• What is the purpose for creating generational wealth? To teach your children money management? To enable your children to be educated? To provide capital for their own businesses?

Knowledge of these intentions will allow your planner to set up your affairs practically to meet your goals; for example, a drafting a ‘family constitution’ will communicate to future generations what grandmother or grandfather’s intentions were in creating the trust.

4. If you already have a trust, don’t allow anyone to review it unless they also want to understand your finances and to see your will.
5. Partners must be in agreement regarding both their intentions and understanding the role and value of a financial planner.

A review of either a will or a trust deed is of no value to the client (or the planner, for that matter) when done in isolation.  You will understand then, my reluctance to take on any future requests to do so without an understanding of my clients’ assets and liabilities, and a broader view of their finances.

Lynette holds a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER ® status and obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning from the University of the Free State in 2007. She completed an Advanced Post Graduate Diploma in financial planning, specialising in Estate Planning and Risk Management in 2012.

Lynette keeps abreast of the latest industry changes through her membership of the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa (FPI), the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and the Kinder Institute of Life Planning.

Lynette believes in real relationships.

Her professionalism and empathy assist her in the discovery process to define her clients financial and lifestyle goals, allowing her to create a global and strategic financial plan for their unique needs.