Full Name: Anthony Govender
Position: Founder and CEO of ASI Financial Services and boardroom activist
Main Activity of the Company: Financial services and insurance brokerage, specialising in employee benefits, long-term insurance and short-term Insurance
Date and Place of Birth: April 15, 1979, Northdale, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal
Education: Financial Planner; Certificate in Health Economics, University of Pretoria
First Job: KFC store assistant; I then progressed to a call centre agent eight months later
Career History Prior to Current Position: Call centre agent, Southern Healthcare JV, 1997 to 1998; client services, Discovery Health, 1998 to 2002; regional director, NMG Consultants & Actuaries, 2002 to 2008
Size of First Pay Packet: R850 a month
First Job with Present Group: Director and head of strategy
Value of Assets under Your Control: R42-billion in insurance premium and assets under advice. The estimated value of the company is R301-million
Number of People under Your Leadership: 230-plus
Management Style: I see myself as a coach and mentor rather than a manager
Personal Best Achievement: I have never missed any day of significance for my family in 18 years. This has been a point of particular poignancy for me, as my father, a drug addict and alcoholic, abandoned my mother and I when I was five
Professional Best Achievement: Building ASI, with no funding or financial backing, into a solid, independently owned company with an estimated value of R301-million. It takes care of over one-million South African clients’ financial advisory needs
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Life: My mother, a domestic worker who graduated to be a textile worker in the mid-1980s with only a primary school education
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: Former NMG CEO Andrew Sykes
Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Anthony Robbins
Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Peter Armitage and Bonang Mohale
Philosophy of Life: Love and respect are free; I am generous with mine
Biggest Ever Opportunity: The opportunity to work with the Government Employees Medical Scheme in advising over one-million civil servants has given me the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of the South Africans that keep our country running
Biggest Ever Disappointment: Losing one of our founding members, and the level of corruption in the South African economy
Hope for the Future: That ASI continues to develop and empower the South African brokerage market through the ASI Robo Advisor, followed by a public listing, and that I leave ASI as a legacy business owned and run by South Africans
Favourite Reading: Anything about leadership and self-development – I am currently reading The Trillion Dollar Coach, by Bill Campbell, and have just completed Keith Coats and Graeme Codrington’s Leading in a Changing World
Favourite TV Programme: I have fun with my children watching Lip Sync Battle, but I do not watch much TV other than that
Favourite Food/Drink: Home-made Malay chicken biryani and coffee
Favourite Music: 90s RnB and Commercial Deep House when I work out, and classical music when I drive
Favourite Sport: Rugby
Favourite Website: ASI Financial Services and YouTube
Hobbies: Hiking, reading/audio books and international travel; I am also a car enthusiast
Car: Porsche 911
Pets: None
Miscellaneous Dislikes: Child abuse, disrespect and racism
Favourite Other South African Company: Discovery
Favourite Foreign Company: Shell, Goodyear, Ford
Clubs: Porsche Club