Stephen is head of the fixed Income strategies and the lead portfolio manager for fixed-income funds at Umthombo Wealth in Johannesburg, South Africa. Stephen joined Umthombo Wealth from Aluwani Capital in 2017, a spin-off from Momentum, where he was portfolio manager for the Africa fixed Income funds, at both organisations. Stephen moved to South Africa in 2014 from Quantum Global Investment Management (QGIM) in Zurich, Switzerland, where he was responsible for managing one of the first dedicated Africa ex-South Africa fixed-income funds: Quantum Global Africa Opportunities Fund (QGAOF), which was established in July 2012. He was also co-Portfolio manager, specialising in EMs, for the Global fixed Income fund (AUM $3 billion) across different fixed income asset classes. Stephen started his investment career at Silk invest in London; a specialist frontier markets asset manager based in London. He was the portfolio manager for the Africa/ Frontier fixed income funds prior to leaving in 2014. With over ten years’ investment experience in the nascent Africa ex-South Africa fixed-income market, he has become a key contributor in the Africa ex-South Africa fixed-income space over the years. Stephen holds a Master of Science Degree in Investment Analysis from the University of Stirling in Scotland (UK), a post-graduate Diploma in Business Project Management from the University of Huddersfield (UK), a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Degree in Management from Leeds University (UK) and IMC (CFA UK). 

Philippe has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. He spent his career in corporate and investment banking at international banks in Germany and Mauritius before joining IPRO in 2013. At IPRO, he became the lead manager of the African Market Leaders fund, a long-only African listed equity fund, and set up the Africa Total Return fund, a long-only African debt fund. He has also managed POLICY Ltd, a closed-end investment company listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius. In 2019, he set up Miltenberg Capital Ltd, an investment management boutique dedicated to Africa, as a spin-off from IPRO. Miltenberg Capital Ltd is licensed as a CIS Manager by the FSC in Mauritius. Philippe holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Applied Science in Essen/Germany as well as the CFA charter and the FRM designation.

Jean-Pierre has over 20 years’ experience in financial markets predominantly focused on fixed income and alternative investments. Jean-Pierre manages Laurium’s Income Fund and is the co-Portfolio Manager of Laurium’s African Bond Fund. Prior to joining Laurium in January 2019 he was deputy head of fixed income at Prescient Investment management in Cape Town where he worked for 9 years. Before moving back to South Africa he worked for a fund management company in London, focusing on fixed interest hedge fund investing. Prior to this, Jean-Pierre was a senior investment analyst for a $1bn fund of hedge funds, run by Schroders Investment Management, where he was responsible for fixed interest, credit and event-driven strategies. Before joining Schroders, he served as the head of fixed income evaluations at Standard & Poor’s in London. He started his career on the proprietary bond trading desk of a German bank based in London. He is a CFA charter holder and has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Cape Town.

Mr Abhimanyu Yadav is the Head of Fixed Income & Currency at MCB Investment Management. Prior to joining MCB Investment Management, Abhi was a portfolio manager at MEAG New York, managing and trading $32 billion in various credit strategies. Abhi has extensive experience across multiple fixed income asset classes (credit – cash and derivatives, rates, commercial mortgages, CLOs) and geographies having worked in Asia, Europe, North America and Africa.

Thys is a portfolio manager for the Emerging Markets Hard Currency Debt and Frontier Strategies at Ninety One. He also serves an investment specialist in the Global Emerging Market Debt team with a particular focus on Africa and the Africa Fixed Income Opportunities Strategy.

Prior to joining Ninety One Thys also spent two years at Anglovaal Industries as an analyst within their corporate finance department.

Thys holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) degree in Investment Management from the University of Pretoria and is a CFA charterholder.