Board of Directors

Alexandra is an emeritus professor of the University of Cape Town, having retired in 2018 after decades of teaching postgraduate financial reporting. She was appointed as Chairperson of Coronation’s Board of Directors in 2021, prior to which she served as the lead independent non-executive director and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee. She is a former Chairperson of the Accounting Practices Committee, the technical accounting committee of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, and chairs the Financial Reporting Investigations Panel (an advisory panel of financial reporting experts formed by a joint venture of the JSE and SAICA). In April 2018, Alexandra was appointed as an independent director of Steinhoff International Holdings N.V.  In July 2021, she was appointed as a non-independent non-executive director of Petra Diamonds Limited.

She is a board member of WWF-SA and is a previous Vice Chairperson of the Board of the Global Reporting Initiative, an Amsterdam-based organisation promoting understanding and communication of sustainability issues. She is a member of EY’s adjudicating panel of Excellence in Integrated Reporting awards.

Anton was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Coronation Fund Managers in February 2013 and has been a member of the Board since June 2009. He joined Coronation in January 2006 from BoE (Pty) Ltd, where he held a number of key positions and directorships. Anton has extensive knowledge and experience of the investment and banking industry. He is a director of various Coronation subsidiaries, and serves as the Chairperson of Namibia Asset Management. Anton is also the Chairperson of the Association for Savings and Investments South Africa.

Saks was appointed to Coronation's Board of Directors as an independent non-executive director on 19 October 2020, and, in August 2021, was appointed to his current role and also as Chairperson of the Board's Risk Committee. Saks served as the Group CEO of Hollard Insurance (Hollard) from 2017 to 2022, prior to which he served as the Head of Retail Banking Product and Segments at ABSA and held a number of executive positions at Nedbank. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Natal, Saks is also a graduate of the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business. More recently, he completed the Advanced Management Programme at the Harvard Business School in Boston.

Lulama is the Head of Department: Commercial Accounting at the University of Johannesburg. She was appointed to Coronation’s Board of Directors in October 2014 as an independent non-executive director and to the position of Chairperson of the Audit Committee in August 2021. She is also an independent non-executive director for Coronation Life Assurance Company Ltd. and a member of the Board of Adcock Ingram Holdings. She graduated from the University of Cape Town in 2002 and served her articles at Grant Thornton Johannesburg. She is a former account manager for the Industrial Development Corporation and was part of the Transport and Financial Services business unit from 2008 to 2011. She is a former project finance consultant and served on the Audit Committee of Automotive Supplier Park from 2007 to 2009.

Lea joined the Board as an independent non-executive director in December 2023. Lea is the Managing Director of Conrad Advisory. She is an independent non-executive director of YeboYethu RF Limited and Mpact Limited. She is also the independent Chairman of the Afrimat BEE Trust and Chairman of the Mpact Foundation Trust. She served as an executive director of the Oceana Group Limited from 2007 to 2016. During her 16-year tenure at the Oceana Group, Lea held executive management positions, served as a director on the boards of various subsidiaries, and as Chairman of the Oceana Empowerment Trust. She was formerly an independent non-executive director of UNISA Enterprises and the Chairman of the Board of African Phoenix Investments Limited.

Judith is Executive director: Freedom under Law, a regular media analyst on South African politics and editor of Daily Maverick’s fortnightly legal and political newsletter, ‘Judith’s Prudence’. She is the author of ‘Turning and Turning: exploring the complexities of South Africa’s democracy’, published by PanMacMillan in August 2018. She previously headed Idasa’s Political Information and Monitoring Service. Judith is an admitted attorney and holds an LLM in Commercial Law and is a registered Conflict Dynamics accredited commercial mediator and a trustee of the Nelson Mandela Foundation. She was appointed to the Coronation Board in August 2008.

*Retired from the Board on 20 February 2024.

Hugo is founding partner of Fortitudine Vincimus Capital Advisors (Pty) Ltd. He is former CEO of Coronation Fund Managers, prior to which he was a member of the investment team of the business for eight years. Hugo is a medical doctor who found his way into investment management via an MBA completed at Oxford University. He is a CFA charterholder. Hugo is a trustee of the DG Murray Trust, member of the Steinhoff NV supervisory board and a patron of George Whitfield College. Hugo was appointed to the Board in November 2016.

Mary-Anne was appointed as Chief Financial Officer and Financial Director in June 2019, and had been fulfilling the role of Deputy Chief Financial Officer since December 2018. Prior to joining Coronation, she served as Chief Financial Officer of projects at DirectAxis, a subsidiary of the FirstRand Group, where she provided strategic and financial input to various projects within the respective business units. Prior to that, she held roles in the fields of finance, tax, and accounting policy governance at various financial institutions. 

Madichaba was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director on 12 June 2019. Previous roles include Executive Director at Pan-African Holdings Capital (Pty) Ltd, a principal at Trinitas Private Equity Fund and transactor at RMB Ventures. Madichaba has been serving as an Independent Non-Executive Director on the boards of Coronation Life Assurance Company (Pty) Ltd and Coronation Management Company (RF) (Pty) Ltd since 1 August 2015.

Neil was appointed as an independent non-executive director on 19 October 2020. He has a National Diploma in Company Administration and a Master of Business Administration in Finance, with 28 years of experience as a South African-based fund manager and equity analyst. Neil previously worked at Syfrets Managed Assets, Nedcor Investment Bank and Old Mutual Investment Group, where he was co-head of the Electus boutique, and following this he was the co-founder and co-head of the independent Electus Fund Managers.

Phakamani was appointed as an independent Non-Executive Director on 19 October 2020. He has a Masters in Economics from the University of Durban-Westville, a Master in Arts in Rural Development from the University of Sussex, is an alumnus of the Wharton Business School and the IMF Institute. He has served in senior management positions in both the public and private sectors. Most recently he served as the Group Chief Executive of Eskom Holdings. Before that he was the CEO of Corporate and Investment Banking (SA) at Barclays Africa and the CEO for the Land and Agricultural Bank. Phakamani also worked in the National Treasury for thirteen years serving as Head of Assets and Liabilities from 2003 to 2008. Phakamani is also consulting for the IMF and the United Nations Economic Community of Africa on financial markets.