Brett Mallen

Brett graduated from the University of Cape Town with BCom and LL.B degrees. He completed his articles with Brink Cohen le Roux & Roodt Inc., and was admitted as an attorney in March 2002. He continued his studies at Leiden University, Netherlands, where he was the dux of his Masters course in International Business Law. He graduated cum laude in 2003.

In June 2004, Brett joined Sanlam Investments as a Legal Advisor. He completed the Sanlam Senior Management Development Programme, and passed all three levels of the CFA exams.

Brett joined Sanlam Private Equity (SPE) as an Investment Associate in September 2009, after he helped negotiate and structure a series of private equity transactions. He also aided SPE in formulating its business strategy and governance structures.

At SPE, Brett sources and analyses prospective investments, negotiates and implements private equity transactions, and manages investments in SPE’s portfolio. Brett is a director on three boards, a board of trustees and various committees.

Thomas Prins

Thomas completed his articles at Ernst & Young in 1995. From there, he joined Investec Bank as a Corporate Finance Consultant. He gained vast experience in capital raising and restructuring, listings and disposals. 

After executing a series of pre-IPO investments on behalf of Investec, his passion to establish long-term investments in unlisted companies was born, the culmination of which saw him help establish Investec Private Equity in 1999. 

Thomas left Investec in 2010 to pursue his own interests in the private equity industry. As Principal Investor and CEO of DP Capital, Thomas endeavours to assist management teams throughout Southern Africa acquire and grow the businesses they manage.

Thomas currently serves as Chairman on three boards, and acts as a director on one other.

Rene Schutte

Rene is a qualified Chartered Accountant. She holds a Master’s Degree in South African and International Taxation from RAU, and completed her articles at PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Entrepreneurial Advisory Division.

Since joining Tiso Group in 2004 as Finance Manager and Private Equity Deal Executive, Rene has been very active in the private equity industry.

In 2008, she joined Tsiya Group as Director. During her time there, she was made a Managing Director of Gagasi 99.5, a KwaZulu-Natal radio station.

Rene joined SPE in March 2011 as Investment Principal. She is responsible for sourcing, evaluating and implementing investments, and deals with post-investment management. She also represents SPE on various governance structures of its investments.

John Smithyman

John was previously CFO for Compass Group SA (Pty) Ltd, South Africa’s largest industrial catering company. In addition to his financial and commercial responsibilities, John led a change coordination team that planned and implemented strategic improvements in the business. 

In 2006, Thermadyne Inc appointed John as Managing Director of their South African operations.He helped ensure business continuity and assist with Thermadyne’s exit from South Africa. During the sale process,local management and Thermadyne prompted John to extend his tenure as Managing Director and co-ordinate a leveraged buy-out.

Alton Solomons

Alton is a qualified Chartered Accountant with a postgraduate diploma in Auditing from Unisa. He qualified as a Chartered Financial Analyst in June 2007 with the CFA Institute in the United States of America. In 2003, he successfully completed the Lim"uvune Investment Training and Development Programme.

Alton has worked for the Industrial Development Corporation, Shoprite Checkers and PricewaterhouseCoopers. His experience and expertise span the IT, telecoms and electronics industries.

He joined Sanlam Private Equity (SPE) as an Investment Principal, and was made a partner in early 2005. He is responsible for the full life cycle of investments, from identification to exiting. Alton represents SPE on the boards and committees of several portfolio companies and private equity funds.

Rodney Willoughby

Rodney was the Financial Director of the South African subsidiary of Eaton Corporation Inc. Prior to that he worked for a number of leading South African companies in the mining, manufacturing and engineering fields. 

Rodney brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in financial and strategic leadership to the organisation. He is responsible for ensuring we achieve all our stakeholder objectives, while adhering to sound business and corporate governance principles.