Olantse Leepile lives and talks transformation in the financial services sector
Unassuming, relatable and full of ideas. This is how one would describe Olantse Leepile, the CEO of the Novare Group, one of the leading black-owned and managed investment solutions providers in South Africa with a 22-year track record. Ola, as he is known to his colleagues and business associates, is a Wits Bcom graduate, a CFA charter-holder, and a certified financial risk manager who obtained his MBA from the London Business School.
He lives and talks transformation in the highly competitive financial services sector. “Transformation must be real. It must not just be about giving people titles without giving them the full responsibility that comes with that position.
“I believe in the transformation of the financial sector to include more players from the black community – which forms the biggest chunk of financial services consumers in South Africa,” he says.
Obakeng, a father of three, was at the forefront of the management buyout of one of the founders of Novare in 2019. This transaction transformed Novare and resulted in the company being 74% owned by staff. Novare offers four investment solutions of impact investing, multi-management (hedge funds, offshore and local long only), private equity real estate (Africa excluding SA) and implemented investment consulting.
The North West-born executive started his career at Alexander Forbes Financial Services in 2003 as an assistant retirement funds consultant.
After joining Novare in 2005 as an investment analyst, he formed part of the hedge fund portfolio construction and risk management teams
In October 2006, he joined BJM Securities, which later became Renaissance Capital, where he traded South African equity futures.
During his time at Renaissance Capital, he was promoted to vice-president and appointed as an executive director on the board of RenCap South Africa. He then re-joined Novare Equity Partners (NEP) in July 2013 as a portfolio manager responsible for research into Africa and business development for the Novare Africa Property Funds. In 2016, he was appointed as deputy CEO of Novare Equity Partners and in 2019 he was promoted to CEO of the Novare Group.
“In early 2019, we took a strategic decision to position the Novare group as an impact investor. Impact investing was not new to Novare and we have been focusing on ESG and total value creation ethos during the deployment of our earlier property funds.
“Our mindset has resulted in total value creation and we believe we have been able to maximise value for all stakeholders from a financial, environmental and social return perspective. “We have also been able to meet our fiduciary duties and contribute to the wellbeing of society while also enhancing the brand value and creating a differentiated position in the market,” he says.
When he is not busy in the boardroom striking deals, he enjoys nothing more than to spend time with his family. “They are the rock I lean on every time.”
He rates The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness by Morgan Housel as a book he would recommend to anyone who wants to make better money choices, personally and professionally. Hip hop might sound farfetched for a high-flying business executive, but not for Leepile, who also enjoys chill house and a bit of Mahlathini – whose music he fell in love with because of his father.
