i3 Summit Speakers - Johannesburg

Dr Philippa Malmgren

US policy analyst | Best selling author | Former US presidential adviser | Economist | Founder of DRPM Group

Dr Philippa Malmgren helps companies, investors, policymakers and the public better understand the interplay between politics, policy, geopolitics and economics. She is a regular commentator and guest anchor on CNBC, BBC, Bloomberg and Sky News. She founded DRPM Group, an economic advisory firm whose clients include investment banks, fund managers and hedge funds, as well as Sovereign Wealth Funds, pension funds, global corporations and family offices. She has an especially strong view on the importance of manufacturing in modern economies and cofounded H-Robotics, which manufactures commercial drones.

She serves on several advisory boards and working groups: Real Vision TV, the British Ministry of Defence Working Group on Global Strategic Trends, the Greater London Authority Infrastructure Advisory Board, MIT Media Lab Food Project and Indiana University School of Public Policy and Environmental Affairs, as well as the Indiana University Manufacturing Initiative. She is a governor and member of the Council of Management of the Ditchley Foundation, which encourages global dialogue on policy issues. She also briefs Britain’s top military leaders in the British Army Generalship Program. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Chatham House, The Institute for International Strategic Security and the Royal Geographical Society.

She has attended the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole Meeting for more than ten years. She served as financial market adviser to the President in the White House and on the National Economic Council from 2001-2002. She was a member of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets and the Working Group on Corporate Governance through Enron and 911. She was the deputy head of Global Strategy at UBS and the chief currency strategist for Bankers Trust. She headed the Global Investment Management business for Bankers Trust in Asia.

In 2015 her book Signals: the Breakdown of the Social Contract and the Rise of Geopolitics became a best-seller on Amazon in four categories. The updated version of Signals will be published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson in June 2016. In April 2015 she also wrote Geopolitics for Investors, which was commissioned by the CFA.

Dr Malmgren has a B.A. from Mount Vernon College and a M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the London School of Economics. She completed the Harvard Program on National Security, briefed The Office of Net Assessment at the Pentagon and participated in the Pentagon’s Joint Civilian Orientation Conference (JCOC).

Back | Top

Nicolaas Marais

President of Wells Fargo Asset Management & head of Multi-Asset Class Solutions

Nicolaas Marais is president and head of Multi–Asset Class Solutions and New Product Research & Development for Wells Fargo Asset Management (WFAM). His team focusses on the development and management of strong multi–asset class solutions and oversees product development and research to ensure future-focussed offerings across asset classes, geographies, and investment products.

Nicolaas most recently served as the global head of Multi-Asset Investments and Portfolio Solutions at Schroders, leading a UK-centric Diversified Growth and Liability Driven Investing division into a Global Multi-Asset and Solutions business.

Prior to his five years with Schroders, his earlier roles include:

• BlackRock: Global Head of Portfolio Management for the Multi-Asset and Client Solutions team, responsible for portfolio management, research and investment strategy
• Barclays Global Investors: global head of Investment Strategy, head of Active Equity-Europe, head of Investment Strategy U.K./Europe, head of Active Equity Product Management
• The World Bank Group: bond trader
• South African Reserve Bank: gold trader

Nicolaas holds his doctorate of commerce in Economics from the University of South Africa. He earned master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Stellenbosch University, South Africa, and an advanced diploma in International Economic Policy research from the Kiel Institute of World Economics in Germany. He has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) designation.

Back | Top

Brian Foster

Author | Co-founder of Beyond RDR | Financial planning consultant

Brian Foster has been a financial planner for over 30 years and has been charging fees for financial planning since 1997. He has owned and managed two successful UK financial planning firms, the last of which was sold in 2012 when he emigrated to South Africa.

He is the author of the e-book Keep Calm & Survive RDR - A short guide for financial planning firms concerned about regulatory change.

Beyond RDR (Pty) Ltd helps forward thinking financial planning firms to build sustainable businesses that deliver world class financial planning experiences.

Brian’s specialities include financial planning, coaching, consulting, wealth management, strategy planning, lifetime cash flow forecasting, risk profiling, TCF, RDR and client engagement.

Back | Top

Robert Roux

Chief Executive Officer, Sanlam Investments

Robert first joined Sanlam in 1989 as an accountant in the investment division. After three years he left Sanlam to be a Financial Manager in the deciduous fruit industry for the next five years. In 1999 he joined Gensec Asset Management before returning to Sanlam in 2002 as Head of Investment Operations for Sanlam Investment Management. He was appointed Chief Operating Officer for Sanlam investments in 2005. From 2011 – 2013 he was CEO of Sanlam Employee Benefits and subsequently headed up the International sub-cluster of businesses within Sanlam investments. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Sanlam Investments on 1 November 2015.

Robert has been in the investments industry for over 20 years, is a Chartered Accountant with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Stellenbosch and an honours degree in Accounting from UNISA.

Back | Top