The evolution and success story of Investec

In this weekly feature Michael Avery gets up close and personal with South Africa’s business and political economy leaders, to uncover what makes them tick, keeps them up at night and keeps them going through the Covid storm. Investec was founded as a small leasing and financing company 46 years ago, in 1974 in Johannesburg, by Larry Nestadt, Errol Grolman and Ian Kantor. And Michel Avery recalls his late colleague, veteran financial journalist, David Gleason, often ribbing former CEO Stephen Koseff about how the market used to look at the firm as a small bucket shop. Well, how far it has come, expanding through a combination of organic growth and astute dealmaking.It secured a banking licence in 1980 and was first listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa in 1986, after merging with Metboard, a trust company. In 1988, Investec Bank was restructured into Investec Group, giving Investec Management and staff control of the company.In September 2018, Investec announced plans to demerge and separately list its asset management business, Ninety One. And here we find ourselves today, the demerger successful.
To look back on a truly remarkable and iconic South African business success story, Avery sits down with the founding CEO and subsequent chairman, Ian Kantor, and another co-founder, long-time CEO Stephen Koseff.