Desmond Kent Smith
Chairman
Desmond Kent Smith was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa on
21 June 1947. After matriculating from Indwe High School, he obtained his B.Sc degree (cum laude) at the University of Stellenbosch. In 1973 he qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries (London) and completed the International Senior Management Programme (ISMP) at Harvard Business School in 1992.
He joined Sanlam in 1968, where he became Managing Director in 1993. He retired from Sanlam at the end of 1997 and served as Managing Director of the Reinsurance Group of America (South Africa) (RGA) from 1999 until 2005. He was Chairman of Sanlam from 2010 until 2017, is currently Chairman of RGA and holds several company directorships.
He served on a number of the committees of the Actuarial Society of SA and the International Actuarial Association (IAA), and is a Past-President of both.
He served as Chairman of the Life Offices Association of South Africa (LOA) in 1996, 2004 and 2008 and is a Past President of the Pensions Institute of Southern Africa.
Paul Stewart
Chief Executive Officer
Paul has worked in investments both internationally and in South Africa. In 2005 he joined Plexus Asset Management as Chief Operating Officer and became Managing Director of the Plexus Group in 2008. Plexus was acquired by Bridge Fund Managers (formerly Grindrod Asset Management) in March 2012. Paul has served on and chaired various industry committees including ACI and Asisa. Paul has been in the financial services industry for over 20 years.
Ian Anderson
Chief Investment Officer
Ian joined Bridge Fund Managers (formerly Grindrod Asset Management) as Chief Investment Officer in September 2009. Prior to that, he ran his own consultancy where his clients included Marriott Asset Management, Fortress Asset Managers (part of the Resilient group of companies) and the Property Loan Stock Association of South Africa. Ian was the Investment Director at Marriott Asset Management from 2002 to 2007, having joined the firm as an Investment Analyst in 1996. Ian has been involved in the management of specialist listed property portfolios for the past 15 years and the investment industry for over 20 years.
Greg Heron
Board Member
Greg, a chartered accountant, is the CEO of Infinitus Holdings, an investment holding company with interests in quality, high growth unlisted businesses. Infinitus Holdings is a significant shareholder in Bridge Fund Managers. He has over 25 years’ experience in corporate, structured and property finance as well as operational exposure to a variety of businesses. Greg has served as a board member for various companies in both the listed and unlisted environment.
