Marius Reitz
Marius Reitz
General Manager
TOPIC:
The Natural Evolution of Money
MARIUS'S BIOGRAPHY
Marius is the General Manager for Africa at Luno, a leading global cryptocurrency company with its head office in London. He joined Luno in 2016 and helped the company grow to a diverse team of 450 people across three continents. Marius wholeheartedly shares his company’s philosophy of upgrading the world to a better financial system. He believes in finding solutions to safe and easy cryptocurrency purchases and transactions around the world. Marius is a Chartered Management Accountant and holds an Honours degree in Management Accounting from the University of Stellenbosch.
Ran Neu Ner
Ran Neu Ner
Founder
DEBATE:
Should we be Investing in Cryptocurrencies?
RAN'S BIOGRAPHY
Ran Neu Ner is a globally recognised cryptocurrency expert and serial entrepreneur. He is the creator/host/producer of world’s first/only weekly televised cryptocurrency investment show and he is ranked in Top 10 most influential people in the Blockchain space worldwide. Ran is currently the CEO of Onchain Capital, a Crypto Asset Fund and Advisory service.
David Shapiro
David Shapiro
Chief Global Equity Strategist
DEBATE:
Should we be investing in Cryptocurrencies?
DAVID'S BIOGRAPHY
David Shapiro is one of South Africa’s most renowned stock markets expert having worked on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange for 49 years and has managed funds which have won multiple Raging Bull awards. David is currently the Chief Global Equity Strategist at Sasfin Wealth.
Monica Singer
Monica Singer
South Africa Lead
TOPIC:
Blockchain 101 and Why it will Change the World
MONICA'S BIOGRAPHY
Monica Singer is a past finalist of the South African Business Woman of the Year Award, she is the first CEO of Strate, a director on multiple South African boards and is the South African lead for Consensys, a global leader in blockchain technology.
Merav Ozair PhD
Merav Ozair PhD
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
FinTech faculty member at Rutgers Business School and a Blockchain Expert
TOPIC:
NFTs explained and its relevance in the investment and financial industry.
MERAV'S BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Merav Ozair is a data scientist, a quant strategist and a leading blockchain and cryptocurrency expert.
Dr. Ozair is a FinTech Faculty member at Rutgers Business School (RBS). At RBS she has developed and teaches courses on blockchain and digital assets for both undergrads and graduate level; and is the Research Director of RBS Blockchain Hub. She serves as an Advisor and Researcher at the Rutgers Blockchain and FinTech Collaboratory; and is an Affiliated professor at Rutgers Law School, focusing on DeFi. She is a member of Academic Advisory Board at INATBA (International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications) and serves on the Advisory Board of EQM Indexes – Blockchain Index Committee; she holds a PhD from Stern Business School at NYU. Dr. Ozair is the keynote speaker at the Alternatives Marketplace’s Cryptocurrency Conference and will be speaking about NFTs and their relevance in the investment and financial industry.
Andoni Nicolau
Andoni Nicolau
Head of Digital Asset Operations
TOPIC:
Cryptocurrency Investments
ANDONI'S BIOGRAPHY
Andoni graduated with a BSc in Actuarial Science and Statistics from Wits University. He pursued entrepreneurial ventures until Bitcoin re-ignited his interest in finance. He has since dedicated himself to understanding money and markets, and leads Jaltech’s Digital Asset Operations
Angela Itzikowitz
Angela Itzikowitz
TOPIC:
Regulating Cryptocurrency in South Africa
aNGELA'S BIOGRAPHY
Professor Angela Itzikowitz is a director at ENSafrica, Africa’s largest law firm. Professor Itzikowitz is a banking and finance expert and co-heads the newly established Fintech department at ENSafrica.
Gaurav Nair
Gaurav Nair
Partner
TOPIC:
SA’s First Regulated
Cryptocurrency Investment
GAURAV'S BIOGRAPHY
Gaurav qualified as an actuary after completing his degree (BSc Honours Actuarial Science) at the University of the Witwatersrand. Prior to co-founding Jaltech, Gaurav worked as an actuary in reinsurance and life insurance, performing technical (risk assessment, pricing, asset liability matching and valuations), distribution and strategic roles.
Gaurav has extensive experience in financial services, which includes: asset management, domestic and international corporate and project finance, capital structuring and raising, hedging various financial risks and managing investments. He has brought valuable insight to Jaltech and has been crucial in allowing Jaltech to provide a customer centric service offering.
Mansoor Parker
Mansoor Parker
Executive
TOPIC:
Tax Consequences of Cryptocurrency Investments
MANSOOR'S BIOGRAPHY
Mansoor Parker is an executive at ENSafrica in the tax department and specialises in corporate tax, energy tax, sports tax and international tax.
Mansoor advises clients on the tax treatment of private equity, venture capital and alternative investments including the tax treatment of cryptocurrency.
Mansoor has advised clients on setting up new operations in South Africa, carrying out the necessary tax due diligence, acquiring competitors, developing tax compliant structures that optimise investment while ensuring smooth implementation and management, completing the tax-related post-deal activities, negotiating with tax authorities and devising employee compensation and retention plans.
Mansoor advises clients on the various fiscal provisions relevant to the tax treatment of energy with a particular focus on the introduction of the proposed carbon tax. He advises clients on the determination of their carbon tax liability including the various statutory mechanisms which are proposed to enable carbon tax liable entities to reduce their ultimate liability.
Mansoor has advised a number of world sports organisations, national sports federations and professional clubs. His experience includes the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup South AfricaTM. Mansoor advises on cross-border tax from the perspective of both foreign inward investment into South Africa and domestic outward investment from South Africa.
He is a member of the International Bar Association, the South African Institute of Tax Practitioners and the South African Fiscal Association.
Mansoor is recognised as a leading/recommended lawyer by:
Master of Ceremony
CIARAN RYAN
MONEYWEB’S SENIOR CRYPTOCURENCY
JOURNALIST
CIARAN'S BIOGRAPHY
Ciaran Ryan is a Johannesburg-based freelance writer who has a background in finance and mining, having previously headed up a gold mining operation in Ghana. He currently writes for several SA and overseas journals on matters ranging from mining to investment. Ciaran is also the host of Moneyweb Crypto, an acclaimed podcast that explores all things crypto and blockchain: the good, the bad and the impossible. If you’re looking to invest in cryptocurrencies, or understand this evolving universe, you’re in the right place.
GSR
GSR, founded in 2013, is a global leader in digital asset trading and market making. GSR specializes in providing liquidity, risk management strategies and structured products to sophisticated global investors in the digital assets industry. Their leadership team of veteran finance and technology executives from Goldman Sachs, Two Sigma, Citadel, IBM and Oracle, among others, has created one of the world’s fastest, most robust, and transparent digital asset trading systems.
Through the team’s trading experience and technology, GSR has the programmatic capabilities to execute strategies that take advantage of pricing discrepancies between South Africa and other markets. The advanced trading technology mitigates foreign currency exposure and cryptocurrency price volatility, thus reducing the investor’s investment risk. This significant market edge has created an opportunity for investors to take advantage of inefficiencies in domestic cryptocurrency markets through well calibrated algorithms.
Jakob Palmstierna
ASSET CLASS: CRYPTOCURRENCY
Jakob Palmstierna
Jakob is Head of Investment Solutions at GSR and is responsible for the firm’s investment management business. Prior to joining GSR, he was Head of EMEA business development at Two Sigma Investments and a board director of Two Sigma International. He has over 11 years experience of developing business and investment solutions in systematic investment management, including roles at Winton Capital Management and Barclays Global Investors (BGI). Jakob earned a BSc in Economics from Lund University where he also completed the MSc coursework in Economics.
CHRYSALIS CAPITAL
The Chrysalis Credit Arbitrage Fund celebrated its 12-year anniversary in August 2020. Its annualised return since inception is 12.04% p.a., an average of 7.08% p.a. above CPI, outperforming both the All Share Total Return index (9.24% p.a.) and the ALBI (8.62% p.a.) over 12 years. The fund is open-ended and investors need to provide 6-months’ notice to redeem. High Net Worth investors can earn a tax-free yield by accessing the fund via a Hollard endowment.
For its institutional investors, Chrysalis Capital manages segregated portfolios, which co-invest into debt opportunities, thereby giving investors comfort that all exposures are shared with other similar investors. Segregated portfolios enter into loans with durations of up to 5 years, yet the weighted average duration is typically closer to 2 years.
CARL COMBRINCK
ASSET CLASS: PRIVATE DEBT
CARL'S BIOGRAPHY
Carl has co-managed the Chrysalis funds for 12 years, prior to which he was the Head of Leveraged Finance at BoE Private Clients. He has 20 years’ experience in banking and finance and is a qualified attorney with experience in commercial and insolvency law. Carl holds an Honours in Financial Management as well as a Diploma in Tax Law.
KNIFE CAPITAL
Knife Capital is a venture capital investment manager that accelerates the international expansion of African innovation-driven businesses by leveraging knowledge, networks and funding. They invest via a consortium of funding partnerships, including SARS section 12J Venture Capital Company: KNF Ventures and select family offices. Knife has a proven track record with early stage technology investments in South Africa and facilitated lucrative exits to the likes of General Electric, Visa, Garmin and Uber. Knife is currently in the process of raising an African Series B Fund to fill a critical follow-on funding gap for local breakout companies.
KEET VAN ZYL
ASSET CLASS: VENTURE CAPITAL
KEET'S BIOGRAPHY
Keet has over 20 years of investment experience in private equity, banking and venture capital. He co-founded Knife Capital in 2010 to scale South African high-growth businesses globally and worked at industry-leading companies such as Procter & Gamble, Investec Bank and ‘Here Be Dragons’ (HBD) Venture Capital.
INVESTEC BANK LIMITED
Investec for Intermediaries is a provider of financial solutions, services, and expertise. Enabling Financial Intermediaries to save, invest and trade on behalf of their clients – in a seamless and integrated manner.
Investec’s specialist solutions teams across Cash Management (CCM); Foreign Exchange; Structured Products; Specialist Investments, Equities and Prime Services, Bespoke Investments and Life Investments have been brought together so that Investec’s clients can easily access the expertise they require to best advise their clients.
Through Investec’s dedicated client service team, integrated digital platform and specialist solutions, it all adds up to an Out of the Ordinary partnership.
BRIAN MCMILLAN
ASSET CLASS:
STRUCTURED PRODUCT
BRIANS'S BIOGRAPHY
Brian joined Investec in 2000 and is the Head of Sales of Investec Retail Structured Products. He has been involved in all aspects of sales and structuring across many asset classes including equity derivative, credit and commodities.
CALEO PRIVATE EQUITY
Caleo Private Equity is an investment management and advisory firm that provides growth capital to operating companies in South Africa and other jurisdictions. Caleo Private Equity has an opportunistic approach to sourcing investments and leverage off its strong base of existing clients and investors as well as the network of investee companies. Caleo Private Equity focuses on building relationships with investors and sees itself as a partner and collaborator in the businesses that it advises in and invests in. The business is industry agnostic with a focus on real estate, debt, and special situations.
Through their dedicated client service team, integrated digital platform and specialist solutions, it all adds up to an Out of the Ordinary partnership. Investec’s AUM has grown from R1bn in 2008 to over R21bn.
gLEN sCORGIE
ASSET CLASS:
PRIVATE EQUITY
gLEN'S BIOGRAPHY
Glen Scorgie is joint CEO at Caleo Private Equity and has over 20 years of experience in investing and fundraising globally. Glen began his career as dealmaker and portfolio manager at Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), where he managed RMB’s US high-yield bond portfolio, investing over $1 billion of capital in over 150 US and European corporates. He subsequently co-founded RMB Westport Real Estate Development Fund, one of the largest sub-Saharan Africa real estate private equity funds at the time. Prior to joining Caleo Private Equity, Glen was CIO and a founding member of Gateway Delta Development Holdings.
Alexander Forbes Investments
Alexander Forbes Investments was first established in 1997 and has grown in strength, to become one of South Africa’s largest investment solutions providers. Its success has been earned by building market-leading multi-managed solutions across both institutional and retail savings and investment pools.
The Alexander Forbes Investments South Africa Private Markets (AFISAPM) portfolio provides clients with access to pools of assets not generally available in the public market, which bear a low correlation to traditional investments. The portfolio blends higher return expectations with structured liquidity events, to provide clients with an easy access point into a diversified portfolio of private market assets, including investments in private equity, direct property, infrastructure and unlisted credit.
dAVID mOORE
ASSET CLASS:
PRIVATE MARKET INVESTMENTS
dAVID'S BIOGRAPHY
David is responsible for sourcing and building scalable, diversified and high-performing alternative asset portfolios. Over his career, David has played an integral role in private equity fund commitments as well as sourcing and managing co-investment opportunities and direct investment opportunities across Southern Africa.
Verum Capital
Verum is a Short-Term Structured Product Strategist, providing sophisticated growth and yield enhancement strategies to the local IFAs and their clients.
Timo Bernhard
ASSET CLASS:
Structured Products
Timo Bernhard
Timo spent no less than 3 decades within the Swiss banking / wealth management industry during which he held various senior private banking positions. Due to his long term experience with South African clients and in-depth knowledge of the local private banking market, he was appointed Global Market Head for Africa before he resigned and established Verum Capital (Pty) Ltd.
Khulisa Investment Partners
Khulisa Investment Partners (KIP) is a majority black owned and managed venture capital and private equity management company that seeks to leverage the experience and wisdom of our investors. Through it’s multi-fund offering KIP aims to contribute to social and structural reform in South Africa and to make a meaningful difference to up-coming entrepreneurs.
KIP uses a proprietary investment process to identify promising investments and partner with dynamic entrepreneurs.
Reka Borole & Ross Tasker
ASSET CLASS:
Venture Capital
Reka Borole & Ross Tasker's BIOGRAPHY
Reka Borole has several years operational experience in a Fintech venture serving South Africa’s mass-market. In his previous career Reka was an Investment Banker at RMB in their Corporate Finance division. Reka is a qualified CA(SA) and CFA.
Ross Tasker has demonstrated experience in working with and advising Fintech innovators and start-ups. Ross was previously a co-founder of an innovative Insurtech venture in South Africa. Ross is trained as an attorney and spent several years in corporate law specifically M&A and private equity.
PANEL DISCUSSION
CRYPTOCURRENCY AS AN INVESTMENT CLASS
Farzam Ehsani
Farzam Ehsani is the CEO and Co-founder of VALR.com, South Africa's largest cryptocurrency platform, that allows customers to buy, sell, store and transfer one of the widest selections of cryptocurrencies. He was previously the Blockchain Lead at Rand Merchant Bank and the FirstRand Group, and was the inaugural Chairperson of the South African Financial Blockchain Consortium. He previously worked at McKinsey & Company in Johannesburg, Deloitte Consulting in San Francisco, the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa, and the United Nations in Nairobi. He studied economics at the University of California - Berkeley.
Lorien Gamaroff
Lorien Gamaroff is the founder/CEO of Bankymoon, a blockchain and cryptocurrency consultancy and co-founder/CEO of Centbee, a cryptocurrency payments and remittance company. He also serves as a Bitcoin Association ambassador.
Jakob Palmstierna
Jakob Palmstierna is Head of Investment Solutions at GSR and is responsible for the firm’s investment management business. Prior to joining GSR, he was Head of EMEA business development at Two Sigma Investments and a board director of Two Sigma International. He has over 11 years experience of developing business and investment solutions in systematic investment management, including roles at Winton Capital Management and Barclays Global Investors (BGI). Jakob earned a BSc in Economics from Lund University where he also completed the MSc coursework in Economics.
Sean Sanders
Sean is the CEO and Founder of Revix. He is a CFA Charter holder and all-round finance nerd with a passion for fintech.
Sean comes from an investment banking background having worked at JSE listed specialist investment firm Sabvest as a fixed income and equity analyst, at venture capital firm Knife Capital as an early-stage venture analyst, at General Pacific Management Services as an equity portfolio manager and at Draper-Gain Holdings - a family office based in London - as an investment analyst.
Before starting Revix, he founded 3 start-ups including Sataya, an event-driven proprietary trading firm, Blocktree Capital, a digital asset advisory firm, and Application Portal, a multi-purpose online university application system. He graduated Magna Cum Laude when completing his Bachelor of Business Science (Honours) in Finance at the University of Cape Town.
Philip-Ildo Vassilev Matov
Philip-Ildo Vassilev Matov is responsible for the development of the ConsenSys business in the EMEA region. Actively supporting product-market fit and go-to-market strategy for ConsenSys Digital assets, DeFi, Payments, Compliance and core blockchain infrastructure software solutions. Philip is also leading the Codefi Staking and Ethereum 2.0 infrastructure working group in the company. His prior experience is in entrepreneurship and the traditional financial sector.