The South African central securities depository (CSD), Strate, has named experienced asset management executive André Nortjé as its new CEO.
Nortjé will assume the role on 1 August, a year after previous chief executive, Monica Singer, announced she was exiting the CSD.
Maria Vermaas, head of Strate’s legal and regulatory division, had stepped in as interim CEO from September 2017.
“André is an accomplished leader, who brings 19 years of executive management experience in financial services, most recently as chief operating officer (COO) of Momentum Investment,” said Nigel Payne, Chairman of Strate.
Nortjé had worked at Monument Investments in South Africa for almost four years at the COO level.
Prior to this he held the same position at Ignis Asset Management in London.
His other c-level role was at Axial Investment Management for three years, where he was chief administrative officer, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“Strate is an exceptional organisation that has achieved great accomplishments since its inception, contributing greatly to the development of South Africa’s financial markets,” said Nortjé.
“I am honoured to be at the helm of such an organisation and I am looking forward to working closely with its talented professionals.”
Singer departed Strate in 2017 after serving almost two decades for Johannesburg-based CSD, where she oversaw the transition to electronic settlement of equities, money market instruments and bonds.
She was also instrumental in South Africa’s transition to a T+3 settlement cycle in 2016 for its equities market.