Challenges as opportunities for growth

Stephanie De Klerk, a business development consultant at Sanlam Investments, is the oldest of four siblings.

She was raised in Swakopmund by her grandparents in a household full of older cousins. With the support of her mother, who is passionate about education, public speaking and acting, she grew up determined to pursue her dreams.

After completing her secondary education at Jan Mohr Secondary School, De Klerk pursued a degree in law at the University of Namibia, completing her Baccalaureas Juris (B.juris) degree in 2008 and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) (Hons) degree in 2010.

She joined Shikongo Law Chambers as a candidate legal practitioner in 2011 and was admitted as a legal practitioner of the High Court of the Republic of Namibia the following year.

Seeking career growth, she joined the Agricultural Bank of Namibia, making the transition from court practice to corporate law, where she remained at the helm of the bank’s legal division until 2019. She then joined Sanlam Investments Namibia in September 2019, where she is currently growing and learning.



About her job

Her role entails unlocking value for Sanlam Investments through innovation and strategic planning to deliver business inflows from new clients.

Additionally, she cross-markets products to clients, financial advisors and brokers.

Another focus is generating new flows from institutional entities and pension markets. Her role requires a clear understanding of Sanlam Investment’s client value proposition, product offering, market trends and investor needs.

Unlocking value is accomplished in various ways, including through investment research as well as formal corporate and consultant interactions that are used to develop business solutions. De Klerk collaborates with Sanlam Investments’ resident portfolio managers and research analysts to anchor investment pitches to corporates, broker firms and financial advisors, as well as onboarding clientele.



Transforming challenges into opportunities

One of the biggest career challenges she has faced to date was the Covid pandemic.

During that time, navigating the business at a time when face-to-face engagement, pitching and consultation were out of the question complicated her job.

This, coupled with investor apprehension due to the market downturn over the period, presented her with the unique challenge of defraying investor fears about their investments and finding innovative ways to assist intermediaries to remain astute, informed and able to instil confidence in their clients notwithstanding the global circumstances.

She realised that it presented hidden opportunities for growth and digital innovation that also led to two important accomplishments.

Twenty months down the line, she capitalised on the opportunity presented by the pandemic, which saw Sanlam Investments launch their online onboarding portal called SmartInvest, the first for a non-banking financial institution in Namibia. This digital platform presents a direct onboarding platform for investors where they can open new unit trust accounts from anywhere in the world 24-hours a day, seven days a week. The next digital innovation was the introduction of Secure Services to the Namibian market, an online portal where existing investors can view and transact on their investment portfolios 24/7 from anywhere in the world.

De Klerk says she has helped the business respond effectively to the need to digitalise while maintaining close relationships with trusted Sanlam advisors and brokers while simultaneously training more intermediaries in the art of Sanlam Investments’ client value proposition, product offering and investment management.



Career advice

During her career, De Klerk has learned a few lessons.

"The only thing in life that is constant is change – you need to remain malleable in life, love, finance and in your profession. Hone a culture of learning, unlearning and re-learning in these segments of your life. It makes for a balanced and fulfilling existence,” she said.