Donor Day: Celebrating the Institutions that Support Our People

Along with being major financial institutions, Sanlam, Old Mutual, Nedbank, ABSA, FirstRand, and Standard Bank have something else in common. That something is AIFMRM.

These six organisations are the core donors of the programme. AIFMRM’s founder and director, Professor David Taylor, will tell you why this is special.

‘The finance world is an extremely competitive market, full of competitive people. AIFMRM is a place where, for a moment, competition is put aside. These major institutions recognise the value we provide and want to be a part of it. This is highly unusual,’ Professor Taylor says.

Recently, AIFMRM had a chance to celebrate these organisations. On 8 March 2024, the institute hosted its annual Donor Day, which saw current students interact with representatives – all AIFMRM graduates – from the six donor institutions. Students had the chance to gain insight into the working world, and graduates had a chance to reconnect with each other and staff. Graduates also had the opportunity to speak about their journeys thus far.  Many spoke about the desire for change being a significant factor in their choice to study through AIFMRM.

One of these graduates is Thabo Siko. Thabo grew up in the Eastern Cape and studied chemical engineering. After a stint of vacation work, he was inspired to take on a different challenge. He applied for AIFMRM’s MPhil in Mathematical Finance (now the Master of Financial Engineering), not knowing at the time that this would be – in his own words – the single best thing he would do for his career.

‘Without it, I would not be in the position I am today,’ Thabo says. There, he refers to his role as Executive Head of Proprietary Portfolio Management at Sanlam. His rise from graduate to executive in such a short timeframe is a story AIFMRM faculty tell with great delight.

They also proudly tell the story of Daniel Ponto, now a Quantitative Analyst at Old Mutual. Daniel is so beloved at his work that higher-ups at Old Mutual often ask Professor Taylor if it might be possible to have Daniel cloned. It is not possible, but AIFMRM does come close: another graduate, Masenkane Makwala, is a Junior Quantitative Analyst at Old Mutual, and he speaks of how Daniel keeps an eye out for him, providing guidance to him in the world of work.

This support is something that all representatives mention. And it has its foundation in Professor Taylor’s long history of teaching mathematical finance at universities in South Africa over the last 25 years. Many students he taught at Wits are still employed in the financial sector, and they know about and support the AIFMRM students who join their teams.

‘What we want to instil is that when our students go out into the working world, they won’t be on their own. There will be AIFMRM graduates working at the same companies as them, and these graduates will provide support to those who are new,’ Professor Taylor says.

At Donor Day, students certainly had a chance to appreciate this—the graduates who spoke work across divisions across companies. If, after their degree, a student is employed at RMB, they’ll meet XVA Specialist Rohin Jain and Sustainable Finance and ESD Advisory Transactor Ofentse Ramathibela. If they work at Nedbank, they’ll come across Quantitative Analysts Zavier Haddad and Pheko Tsotetsi. And if they’re BSD Engineers at Standard Bank, they’ll be on the same team as Ross Parsons; if Options Trading is their calling at ABSA, they might find themselves at a desk next to Danae Pavlou.

As Danae says: ‘The people you meet here are the best part. And because you all work in the same industry as each other, you’ll see them throughout your whole life and career.’

AIFMRM is very grateful to Sanlam, Standard Bank, Old Mutual, FirstRand, ABSA, and Nedbank for their continued, generous support. We look forward to the year ahead – and to seeing some of the current students representing the donors at future Donor Day events.