Gadi Cohen
Managing Director I BBusSci CA(SA)
Gadi is a cofounder of Optomise, an alternative investments company which offers investors alternative investment opportunities including private real estate both domestically and offshore. Gadi has raised over R550 million in equity from individual investors and facilitated more than 30 portfolio investments. Noteworthy South African real estate investments include The Rockefeller in Cape Town, The Voco in Rosebank and The Apollo in Sunninghill. Collectively, these prime developments have more than 1,200 units and have won various awards. Gadi has extensive experience in business development, product innovation and tax structuring.
Maqhawe Dlamini
Investment Committee I Business
Administration (Mast), Bachelor of Science
Maqhawe has over 25 years’ experience in the South African investment industry in various roles spanning Quantitative Analysis, Research Analyst, Portfolio Manager and eventually Chief Investment Officer. Maqhawe is currently the Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Amada Investment Management. Previously he worked at Mvunonala/Vele Asset Managers where he was the executive head of investments, and prior to that, he served as the General Manager for Listed Equities at the Public Investment Corporation. With Metal Industries Benefits Fund Administrators, Maqhawe served for a period of six years in the role of Chief Investment Officer and was a portfolio manager in the same entity prior to that. He commenced his investment industry career with Standard Corporate and Merchant Bank – Asset Management division, as an analyst followed by the portfolio management role.
Namir Waisberg
Executive Director I Actuary CFA
Namir is a cofounder of Optomise and CEO of Willis Burton Capital Partners, an investments and advisory business that specialises in domestic & offshore alternative investments. Namir has experience in M&A, Private Equity,
Real Estate and Venture Capital. In 2009 Namir cofounded StorageWorx, a self-storage business, with over 2,500 storage units located across fifteen prime locations throughout South Africa. StorageWorx was sold to a JSE listed REIT. Prior to this Namir was an Investment Banker with Investec Bank. Namir was previously a Board Member of CFA South African and is currently a Board Member of the FTSE-JSE Index Committee.
Mark Collie
Executive Director I BCom
Mark is the cofounder of Airvantage, a fintech provider of mobile financial and value-added services for mobile network operators. Airvantage was sold to JSE-listed Blue Label telecoms in 2018. In 2009, he founded Icon South Africa in partnership with Icon UK. Icon was appointed by FIFA to design, produce and install the signage and branding for the FIFA Confederation Cup 2009 and the FIFA World Cup 2010. Mark was previously the operations director of Wideopen Platform, the leader in large format outdoor advertising in South Africa which he sold to Primedia Limited in 2006. Mark was previously involved in corporate finance and private equity with the Buffet Investment Group.
Rakgomo Masilela
Investment Committee I Equity & Data Analyst
Rakgomo is an experienced Equity & Data Analyst as well as a Client Experience Specialist. With over six years in the FinTech industry, he has a proven track record of working collaboratively with sales, marketing and development teams to achieve company goals through product developments to increase customer experience, revenue gains, and advance the sales cycle of the company. Having this thorough background in data analytics, sales management and customer service & communication, Rakgomo is able to build strong, long lasting relationships with organisation’s key customers. Rakgomo’s experience is underpinned by a deep and varied academic record, which is most appropriate and sought after in the financial sector; he leads in investment analysis & management, banking & payments systems, financial management and data science amongst others
Michael Roffey
Executive Director I BCom CA(SA)
Michael is a cofounder of Optomise and brings an in-depth knowledge of Private Equity, Real Estate and innovation to Optomise’s offering. He pioneered cellular micro-lending and device financing in South Africa and has been involved in the telecommunications industry for more than 10 years. His products and services are today available in over 15 countries across three continents. Together with partners, he founded the largest independent cellular retail credit business and handset finance business in South Africa.
These businesses were sold to a JSE-listed company in 2013 and 2017 respectively.
Lloyd Priestman
Portfolio & Risk Management I CA(SA), (CAIA)
Lloyd has over 15 years of experience in Financial Services. Lloyd is both a Charted Accountants CA(SA) as well as a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA). With his vast industry skillset and sector experience, Lloyd has become an expert in asset management, private equity and debt and corporate finance. In addition to consulting for several organisations and non-profits as an ‘external’ FD function.
Lloyd specialises in Portfolio and Risk Management.
