B Compt (Hons), M Com (Tax), CA(SA)
Frans-Johan van Dyk has been involved in various private sector industries over the past 20 years. He served his articles at PricewaterhouseCoopers' Audit, Accounting, Tax advisory and Transactional Support division in the SME industry, learning about all facets of business, from treasury to the filing of monthly SARS returns.
As a founding partner of FJD & Associates Chartered Accountants and Auditors, he specialises in tax compliance, transactional support, and consulting, particularly to the SME market.
Frans-Johan completed various corporate transactions, buying and selling entities and growing start-up ventures into successful companies. He serves as active director on various boards of typical SME companies where he provides guidance and leadership to grow and expand business activities, as well as guiding the implementation of internal control procedures and corporate governance structures.
B Com (Econ) Hons
Caine Herr received his commerce degree from the University of South Africa (UNISA), followed by an honours degree in Economics from the University of Johannesburg (formerly known as RAU).
In 1995, he joined the banking sector and stock market, working in various areas of the market, from trading to securities lending and structured products. From there he moved on to a niche business within derivative sales.
Between 2006 and 2014, he successfully built and managed his own derivative broking business, Optimize Financial Services, covering South African, London-based, and French banks. The company was a member of the JSE and a registered FSP. The core business was index, singles stock and futures broking.
Currently, Caine is advancing into the student accommodation sector, by sourcing and financing sites earmarked for this purpose. Having built up an extensive business network, he continues with consulting, and exploring exciting business opportunities in various industries and sectors.
B Compt, MBL, D Com
John Swart served his articles with Meyer Nel (later incorporated into PwaterhouseCoopers) before completing his SANDF military service under the Inspector General (Internal Audit). He then joined a national firm of attorneys where he acted as their financial manager for four years, after which he commenced his career in financial services with Sanlam in 1989.
Since then, he has been advising clients in the high net worth and SME markets on financial planning and investment management.
In 2002, he co-founded FIRSTGLOBAL Group, where he is still a director and consultant. In 2010, he founded True North Capital Management, where he is still a director and Chief Investment Officer.
John has a strong economic and business management background, and has gained extensive experience in specifically financial management and consulting.
B Jur et Art, LLB
Eric Dunn was admitted to the bar in 1981 and took Silk in 1992. Eric has practiced in many areas of litigation but specializes in commercial work. His fields of practice include administrative law, arbitration law, company law, contract law, construction law, customs law, insolvency law, law relating to medicine and health care, local government law, property law, law pertaining to public-private partnerships, and tax law.
In 2017, Eric also successfully completed an advanced course in business rescue practice, equivalent to a postgraduate qualification in this field, through UNISA, under the auspices of the Law Society of South Africa.
Eric has acted as a High Court judge from time to time. He was also a member of the Income Tax Board for two terms in the mid-1990s. He has appeared in many prominent reported cases in the High Court, Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court.
B Com (Maths) FFA FASSA AMP (Harvard)
Nicolaas Kruger obtained a B Com (Mathematics) Cum Laude at Stellenbosch University in 1988. He became a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries and Fellow of the Actuarial Society of South Africa in 1992. He completed the Advanced Management Programme (AMP) at Oxford University in 2001.
Nicolaas is an experienced business executive in the insurance-based financial services industry in South Africa. He was Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MMI Holdings Limited for seven years up to the beginning of 2018. Prior to that, he held various roles at Momentum Group, including CEO for 2 years, Chief Financial Officer for 2 years and Chief Actuary for 10 years. He was appointed as non-executive director on the SANLAM board in 2020.
Nicolaas gained valuable experience doing business internationally, including various countries in Africa, the UK and India. Amongst these, he established a new business focusing on disruptive innovation in the fintech space and concluded investment partnerships with venture capital experts in South Africa and the UK. Nicolaas was a board member of the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa (ASISA) for many years. He has attended the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, and served as alternate director of Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA).
Nicolaas is passionate about developing future managers and leaders. He currently acts as an advisor, director, investor, and mentor for a number of businesses and institutions, and believes in values-based leadership.
B Acc, B Compt (Hons), CA (SA)
Pierre completed his articles with Vosloo Meintjies, now PricewaterhouseCoopers, in Stellenbosch.
Pierre joined Pim Goldby, now Deloitte, in 1988 as a management consultant and became a partner in Deloitte Consulting in 1993. Pierre was appointed as CEO of Deloitte Consulting (South Africa) in 1998. Over the years he has advised many International and South African organisations on corporate strategy, structure, mergers and acquisitions, operational and performance improvement, enterprise technology applications and corporate governance. He also served on the Board of Deloitte South Africa's audit firm as well as various global management teams and boards in the Deloitte network.
In 2005 Pierre founded Barnstone as a start-up incubator and private equity investor. Since then, various new businesses were launched in telecommunications, technology solutions, strategic advisory services, change management, healthcare, education and property development. Since 2014 he has focused on affordable private education, and in a partnership with Old Mutual, Barnstone Education has developed and currently manages five schools.
Pierre is the non-executive chairman of Attacq Ltd, a JSE listed REIT and the owner/developer of Waterfall City, as well as the chairman of Atterbury Property Holdings a leading privately owned property development company. He also chairs the board of the Pretoria Urology Hospital.
JG is a Professional QS and Development Manager with more than 15 years of experience in real estate development. He previously formed part of numerous management teams while residing in Dubai, UAE, for six years. He currently manages the development activities of an extensive luxury hotel portfolio. He also leads the overall feasibility and investment strategy within the Design & Development team over the global hospitality portfolio in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (38 hotels).
JG gained valuable experience in the construction industry while working on various mining developments in African countries, including Namibia, Botswana, Ghana, Liberia, and Mozambique. JG spent two years during his MBA studies working as a part-time investment analyst for i7 Capital, whereafter he was appointed to the board of directors as a non-executive director.
JG is passionate about startups and entrepreneurship and is a shareholder in numerous SMEs. He founded BESTEQ Holdings, a private investment portfolio. He is custodian for further education and chairs the Stellenbosch Alumni Association since the start of 2022.