Journey of persistence

Meet Leigh Kohler, Head: INN8 Invest DFM who firmly believes that working hard, being kind, doing your homework and being patient are some of the key skills every investor needs.

How did you get involved in finance? Was it something you always wanted to do?

In retrospect, I didn’t always want to get into financial services but not because I had ambitions to do something else. All I knew when I left university was that I needed a job. I was a 22-year-old job seeker, desperate for work, and frequented the internet café daily to send my CV to any company with an email address. One day, I noted the name of a business on my way to the shopping centre – and sent my CV to them. While I had been rejected twice for a call centre and then an operations consultant role, I remained persistent. After months of knocking on the door of this one company in particular, my persistence paid off when my application for an admin assistant role was successful. The job was to post letters. The company was Glacier. This was the first step in building a career in financial services.

What was your first investment – and do you still have it?

While I didn’t know it at the time, my first investment was the purchase of an X-Men comic book when I was a kid. Yes, I still have it, and yes, it’s worth a lot more now. However, my actual first deliberate investment, like most, was a property purchase. I bought a small apartment in Strand, Cape Town, during the property boom in the early to mid-2000s. It was a direct purchase from the developer and, unfortunately, I didn’t do the necessary research on the area the property was in. This had negative implications, and I ended up selling it for less than what I’d paid for it. Take-aways from that experience: Do your homework and be patient. I’ve made more liquid investments after that debacle and did well from there.

What have been your best – and worst – financial moments?

It’s difficult to pinpoint any particular event as the best moment. However, the best part of my journey so far is being able to work with incredible people, better understand and navigate the complex world of investments and asset management, and genuinely trying to make our industry a better place. I love knowing that I have contributed to making a small and positive difference to our industry and its people.

Some of the worst events include large black swan events like the GFC (2008), Steinhoff event, and the pandemic. The chaos of these events causes fear and, often, irrational behaviour. Of course, it’s only with the benefit of hindsight (and experience) that we learn to keep calm during these times.  

What are some of the biggest lessons you have learnt in and about the finance industry?

Hard work does pay off. Forget quick wins and immediate gratification. Keep your head up when you need to, put your head down when you need to. Be kind. I work with people. It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you’re just kind and give a smile to others occasionally (in my case, I try to keep smiling as much as I can). Markets are tough. If you think you’ve seen it all – you haven’t learnt your lesson yet.

Find a reason for what you do. Find a reason to love what you do – beyond investment performance and making money. I didn’t grow up with wealth, I’m from the Cape Flats and I’ve seen the impact of people not saving and investing for their futures, especially retirement. So, the reason I do what I do is to help people make better decisions, live a good life and retire with dignity.

What makes a good investment in today’s economic environment?

Do the basics right. Diversify your investments across major asset classes (and even to alternative asset classes if possible). There are no silver bullets when it comes to making good investment decisions. Expose yourself to growth assets for long-term growth and ensure you have sufficient liquidity to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves when you least expect them to.

What finance/investment trends and macroeconomic realities are currently on
your watchlist?

We’re watching the global megatrends and super themes such as information and technology disruption (innovation and AI); infrastructure; energy transition; China and India. Of course, we’re also quite positive on South Africa. We think there’s still value in our market and we’re hoping our clients benefit from our exposure to SA, as well as skilled global asset managers taking advantage of the global super themes.

What are some of the best books on finance/investing that you’ve ever read?

Those that spring to mind are books like Boom and Bust by Quinn and Turner (Global History of Financial Bubbles); The End of Money by Buckham, Wilkinson and Straeuli; and The World for Sale by Blas and Farchy. The books that I’ve really enjoyed, that are not directly finance related include:

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike – this is a fascinating story of sheer determination, hard work and creativity

The Ride of a Lifetime (Robert Iger) – the story of the Disney CEO and how he built what is Disney today, including the purchase of the Star Wars and Marvel franchises, as well as the Pixar business

A cautionary tale called Black Edge by Sheela Kolhatkar. It’s the story of Steve Cohen, an (in)famous hedge fund manager and how he built his business through insider information and dirty money. Definitely a ‘what-not-to-do’ story.