Modise Motloba Quartile Capital’s Quest for R2 BillionValue By 2017 odise Motloba grew up and undertook his early education in Soweto before being admitted to Wits University where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree with a major in Mathematics and Computer Science in 1990. He spent a couple of years applying his computer science knowledge at Coopers and Lybrand and subsequently at Argus Newspapers prior to joining Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) as an investment banking trainee. “Joining RMB and investment banking was quite accidental as I was looking for a job and heard that the bank was looking to train black graduates,” he says as we sit in the boardroom at the Quartile Capital offices in Illovo. “But I was quite elated as this new career exposed me to multiple sectors and broadened my mind as opposed to computing which was not much more than a support role for an organisation.” Modise spent five years at RMB which included a stint with Goldman Sachs in New York in 1995. He joined African Merchant Bank in 1998 where he was the domestic treasurer responsible for compliance and liquidity matters. In 2000, he moved on to African Harvest managers in Cape Town where he was a portfolio manager. “It was a different kettle of fish working in Cape Town; there is certainly some truth to the notion that things are much more relaxed there. But it was a good two years for my personal development to learn that I could be successful and at the
same time enjoy life. I returned to Johannesburg briefly before resigning and I have been an entrepreneur ever since.” Modise and partner Sandile Njilo were behind the early years of Africa Vukani Investment Management Services, an entity whose core service lines were wealth management and corporate advisory. Modise was responsible for the latter and was also the company’s chief executive. “In 2008, the corporate advisory business was separated from Africa Vukani and the new subsidiary renamed Quartile Capital (QC). W e chose t h e name
‘Quartile’ as we aspire to be at the upper most quartile of the investment arena and as the term is frequently used in global financial circles, it would remain relevant once we expanded internationally.” QC has a proud record of being involved in deals