The top South African business leader who moved to Australia and now chairs a big private equity firm

Former Investec Group CEO Stephen Koseff remains active in business, including serving as a director of Investec and chairman of a private equity firm.

Koseff shared his views on the Investec Minds podcast, hosted by Investec Corporate and Investment Banking research analysts.

Koseff was born to Ralph and Lulu Koseff on 23 July 1951. He grew up and attended school in Benoni.

After matriculating from Benoni High School in 1986, he completed BCom, CTA, and MBA qualifications at the University of the Witwatersrand.

After completing his articles at Schwartz & Fine, he worked as a Professional Assistant at Alex Baillie Koseff & Wheeler, a firm at which his father was a partner.

In 1980, Stephen took up employment at Investec, which started a journey which still continues 46 years later.

He quickly rose through the ranks and, in 1996, was appointed CEO of Investec. He served as chief executive until October 2018.

Under his leadership, Investec grew into a global financial powerhouse with operations in 9 countries across four continents.

His exceptional leadership earned him numerous awards and accolades, including Jewish Businessman of the Year in 1990.

He received the Business Day Business Achievement Award in 1996 and 1997. In 2003, he won the ABSA Achievement Award and the Moneyweb CEO of the Year Award.

In 2006, he received the GIBS Social Entrepreneurship award, and in 2009, he received the Sunday Times Lifetime Achievers Award.

The University of the Witwatersrand awarded Koseff an honorary doctorate degree in 2017 in recognition of his contributions to society.

Stephen Koseff remains involved in business

Koseff moved to Australia to spend more time with his family, but still maintains strong links to South Africa.

“I spend a lot of time online with people in South Africa. I also visit the country four to five times a year,” he said. “I used to be familiar with Australia because we used to have a bank here. I also have networks and relationships here.”

Koseff told the Investec Minds podcast that he tries to spend a third of his time on business, another third on charitable work, and the rest on private matters.

He highlighted that he is still directly involved in business. “I still work most days. My factory setting is that I need to keep working to keep my mind active,” he said.

He is the chairman of BidCorp and continues to serve on the boards of Investec Limited and Investec PLC.

He also serves as the non-executive chairman of Irongate Funds Management, Arrowpoint Capital, and Partnership Capital in Australia.

Koseff said he is no longer involved in any corporate and executive decision-making and is mostly active at the board level.

“In my private capacity, I chair a credit fund that allows me to still look at deals and decide to say yes or no,” he said. “It is similar to what I have done at Investec, but the scale is nowhere near what I have done as CEO of the bank.”

He said he is not playing any golf. However, he frequently takes long walks where he lives in Australia.