Kobus Nel

Kobus is the Group CEO and co-founder of Fairtree. He also serves as Chairman of the Private Equity and Operational Real Estate Investment Committees and is an Equity Portfolio Manager in the Investment team.

Kobus began his career at PwC, where he completed his auditing articles and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2000. He then joined Sanlam’s in-house Corporate Finance team in 2001, where he was involved in several large corporate transactions. During this time, he also qualified as a CFA^® charterholder.

In 2005, Kobus supported André Malan in negotiating a buyout of the management company of the Fairtree Market Neutral Equity Fund. This pivotal transaction led to the establishment of Fairtree as an independent fund management company in 2006. Kobus began managing equity hedge funds and has since remained involved in the management of Fairtree’s hedge fund strategies. He has also been involved in a number of Fairtree’s private market businesses.

Kobus has been instrumental in shaping and driving Fairtree’s growth strategy and took on the role and responsibilities of Group CEO in 2013. He is passionate about building an excellent, high-trust organisation where employees can flourish in the best interests of all Fairtree stakeholders.