Merchant West Investments Team and Leadership

Home » Investments » Merchant West Investments Team and Leadership

LEADERSHIP

Board of Directors

Braam Viljoen

Group Chief Executive Officer

Braam Viljoen

Group Chief Executive Officer

CA(SA), CFA, MCom (Financial Management)

55 years old
Subsequent to his internship with Deloitte and consequent qualification as a Chartered Accountant, Braam Viljoen joined the Risk Management division of Investec Bank Limited. He was later repositioned, and for the succeeding four years, was fundamentally involved in the bank’s Specialised Finance division. In 1998, Braam co-founded Merchant West within the Specialised Finance Division of a JSE-listed corporation. He held the position of Managing Director until 2002 when the business was repurchased and rebranded as Merchant West Holdings. Since then, he has served as the Group Chief Executive Officer. Braam’s tenure with the company spans 25 years. Braam is a CFA® charter holder, a Chartered Accountant and holds a Master of Commerce degree in Financial Management from the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU).

Daniel King

Managing Director

Daniel King

Managing Director

Daniel has a master’s degree in financial economics and has worked in the investment industry for more than 10 years. He started his career in asset management where he was responsible for macroeconomics, strategy, and fixed income analysis. He then joined the stock broking industry where he worked as a top-rated equity analyst for several years. He joined Merchant West Investments in 2021 as Head of Fixed Income.

Johan Pretorius

Group Chief Operating Officer

Johan Pretorius

Group Chief Operating Officer

BCom Hons (Accounts), CA(SA)

45 years old
Subsequent to completing his articles at PKF (JHB) Inc. in 2004, Johan Pretorius joined Merchant West, and was appointed as Merchant West’s Group Financial Manager. Progressing within the organisation, Johan was promoted to the role of Group Financial Director in 2005, overseeing the financial affairs of the holding and associate companies. His career trajectory continued in 2013 when he assumed the position of Director of Business Development, contributing to the Specialised Finance team at Merchant West. In pursuit of strategic objectives, Johan relocated to Cape Town at the end of 2013, becoming the Regional Director of the Merchant West Cape Town branch. In October 2018, he expanded his role to Group Regional Director, undertaking responsibilities for all regional branches and spearheading the regional roll-out strategy. In October 2021, Johan was appointed to Group COO. Johans tenure with the company spans 20 years. Johan holds a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) Honours, Accounting from the University of Pretoria and is a Chartered Accountant

Piet Viljoen

Non-Executive Director

Piet Viljoen

Non-Executive Director

Piet has over three decades of experience in the finance and investment industry. He started out as a lecturer at the University of Pretoria, before joining the South African Reserve Bank as an economic analyst. Piet discovered value investing at Allan Gray Investment Counsel, where he became a portfolio manager in 1991. In 1995, Viljoen moved to Investec Asset Management where he built up a following as the portfolio manager of the Investec Opportunity Fund before leaving to set up RECM (Regarding Capital Management) in 2003. RECM Asset Management merged with like-minded firm Merchant West Investments in 2020 where Piet continues to manage funds with mandates that suit his value-oriented style. In addition to his fund management responsibilities, he is a director of Merchant West Investments as well as various listed and unlisted businesses.

Raymond Shapiro

Executive Director

Raymond Shapiro

Executive Director

Raymond started his career at The Standard Bank Group, completing his articles under their TOPP programme, and specialising in financial management. In 2007 he joined Melville Douglas Investment Management as an equity analyst, later also becoming a portfolio manager in both domestic and global portfolio management. Raymond joined Merchant West Investments in 2014, where he is the Head of Quality and portfolio manager of both domestic and global equities. He was appointed as Merchant West Investments’ Chief Investment Officer in July 2024 and serves on the Board of Directors.

Leadership Team

Daniel King

Managing Director

Daniel King

Managing Director

Ian Anderson

Portfolio Manager

Ian Anderson

Portfolio Manager

Ian joined Bridge Fund Managers (formerly Grindrod Asset Management) as Chief Investment Officer in September 2009. He joined Merchant West Investments after it acquired Bridge Fund Managers in 2020. Prior to that, he ran his own consultancy where his clients included Marriott Asset Management, Fortress Asset Managers (part of the Resilient group of companies) and the Property Loan Stock Association of South Africa. Ian was the Investment Director at Marriott Asset Management from 2002 to 2007, having joined the firm as an Investment Analyst in 1996.

Sandi Venn

Financial Manager

Sandi Venn

Financial Manager

Sandi started her career at Mazars (formerly known as Moores Rowland) in 1998. She then joined Bridge Fund Managers (formerly Grindrod Asset Management) as a Financial Accountant in 2005 and became head of finance for Merchant West Investments in September 2020. She has 24 years’ experience in various financial roles and is now responsible for the group accounting and company secretarial duties.

Raymond Shapiro

Chief Investment Officer

Raymond Shapiro

Chief Investment Officer

Distribution Team

Juan Mirfin

Head of Distribution

Juan Mirfin

Head of Distribution

Juan is a seasoned investment professional with deep expertise in financial advice, investment solutions, and distribution strategy. With a background as an Investment Specialist at PPS, a Financial Adviser at Momentum, and a Sales Consultant at Allan Gray, he is dedicated to empowering financial advisers with insights that go beyond the ordinary.

Contact Me

Juan.Mirfin@merchantwest.co.za

Mike Botha

Investment Consultant & Distrubution: KZN

Mike Botha

Investment Consultant & Distrubution: KZN

Michael Botha is registered as a CFP after completing his PGDip in Financial Planning and passing the CFP board exam. He started his career in the investment industry in 2012 as a financial advisor. His experience includes financial consultant roles at Liberty and Sanlam. Michael joined Merchant West Investments in 2023 as an Investment Consultant servicing the KwaZulu-Natal province. He is passionate about investment planning and growing within the industry.

Contact Me

Mike.Botha@merchantwest.co.za

Operations Team

Nadia Miller

Dealing & Operations Specialist

Nicole de Freitas

Finance Administrator

Nicole de Freitas

Finance Administrator

Nicole started her career at Merchant West Investments in 2017. She is currently studying towards a degree in BCom Financial Management. She commenced her finance career in the asset management industry as a receptionist, office manager and has since then worked her way up to the Finance Team at Merchant West Investments.

Sandi Venn

Financial Manager

Sandi Venn

Financial Manager

Investment Team

Alyssa Viljoen

Head of Equity Research

Alyssa Viljoen

Head of Equity Research

Alyssa completed her BCom Accounting Sciences and Post Graduate Diploma in Accounting Sciences at the University of Pretoria. Her professional career commenced in 2019 where she completed her articles at Deloitte including a secondment through the firm in Canada. She is a registered Chartered Accounted, CA(SA) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). She joined Merchant West Investments in 2022.

André Joubert

Portfolio Manager

André Joubert

Portfolio Manager

André obtained two Honours degrees – in Economics and Investment Management at the University of South Africa. He has served on the Association of Unit Trust's Fund Management Standing Committee. André started his investment career in 1985 and served in several institutions such as Syfrets Trust, Fairheads Asset Managers, Investec Asset Management, Franklin Templeton Group and BoE Asset Management where he has held a variety of roles such as a Portfolio Manager, Director as well as a Chief Investment Officer. André founded Maestro Investment Management in 2000 and later merged the business with Merchant West Investments in 2022.

Bianca Lakha

Equity Analyst

Bianca Lakha

Equity Analyst

Bianca holds a Master’s degree in Economic Science from Wits and has published research on governance, corruption, and foreign direct investment in Africa in the International Review of Applied Economics CIRA. She previously worked as an equity analyst in the Private Clients business at Old Mutual Wealth, specializing in investment research and market analysis, and gained additional experience at Genesis Analytics, an economics consultancy firm.

Daniel King

Portfolio Manager

Daniel King

Portfolio Manager

Ian Anderson

Portfolio Manager

Ian Anderson

Portfolio Manager

Joshua Viljoen

Equity Analyst

Joshua Viljoen

Equity Analyst

Josh is a qualified CA(SA) and CFA Level 3 candidate. He began his career at Deloitte Cape Town, where he completed his articles before gaining international experience on secondment to Deloitte London. Before joining Merchant West Investments, he was part of Deloitte’s Corporate Finance team, working on a range of high-profile M&A deals.

Neal Hoogwerf

Equity Analyst

Piet Viljoen

Portfolio Manager

Piet Viljoen

Portfolio Manager

Raymond Shapiro

Portfolio Manager

Raymond Shapiro

Portfolio Manager

Richard Henwood

Portfolio Manager

Richard Henwood

Portfolio Manager

Richard has close to two decades of investment experience which he gained in both the UK and South Africa. He spent nine years in London working for Schroders Investment Management, hedge funds Trafalgar Asset Managers and CapeView Capital LLP. There he gained valuable insight into various investment strategies including long-only, event-driven, credit, private equity and long-short equity. He returned to South Africa in 2013 and worked for Atlas Trading (Grindrod) before joining Bridge Fund Managers (formerly Grindrod Asset Management) in 2014, and Merchant West Investments in 2020.

Rudi van Niekerk

Portfolio Manager

Rudi van Niekerk

Portfolio Manager

Rudi holds Bachelor of Commerce and MBA (cum laude) degrees from the University of Stellenbosch and completed the CFA Charter examinations. He has more than a decade experience investing in South African listed equities with a focus on small and mid-caps. Previous experience includes private equity and commodity trading. Rudi is the portfolio manager (together with co-manager Piet Viljoen) of the Merchant West SCI Value Fund.

SECURE YOUR TOMORROW

Get in Touch

Want answers to a pressing question? Fill in the form and we’ll get back to you shortly

Comments

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Your Name and Surname

Your Email Address

Contact Number

I am Interested in:

Income Funds

Payers & Growers® Funds

Property Funds

Multi Assest Funds

Local Equity Funds

Global Funds

Feeder Funds

Other

Message

Merchant West Investments Team and Leadership

Board of Directors

Braam Viljoen

Daniel King

Johan Pretorius

Piet Viljoen

Raymond Shapiro

Leadership Team

Daniel King

Ian Anderson

Sandi Venn

Raymond Shapiro

Distribution Team

Juan Mirfin

Mike Botha

Operations Team

Nadia Miller

Nicole de Freitas

Sandi Venn

Investment Team

Alyssa Viljoen

André Joubert

Bianca Lakha

Daniel King

Ian Anderson

Joshua Viljoen

Neal Hoogwerf

Piet Viljoen

Raymond Shapiro

Richard Henwood

Rudi van Niekerk

Get in Touch

Solutions

Quick Links

Head Office

Merchant West Investments Team and Leadership

Board of Directors

Leadership Team

Distribution Team

Operations Team

Nadia Miller

Investment Team

Neal Hoogwerf

Get in Touch

INVEST NOW

OR

Book a Free Consultation

Newsletter