Brian Butchart, Managing Director at Brenthurst Wealth
Independent Financial Advisory company Brenthurst Wealth added two offices to its network, bringing its total number of offices to seven in South Africa and one in Mauritius.
“Despite a challenging investment environment we achieved significant growth in terms of our client base and assets under management in 2019. We opened two new offices, one in Sandton and the other in Cape Town, in order to serve our growing client base more efficiently. The growth achieved also required larger premises for our office in Pretoria,” says Brenthurst Wealth Managing Director, Brian Butchart.
The new Cape Town office, opened late last year, is based at the Yacht Club mixed use development close to the Waterfront and CTICC, the Sandton office set to open next week, is in Sandton Central. These two additions are the first new offices added since opening Brenthurst’s office in Stellenbosch in 2017 and its first operational and licenced international office in Mauritius in 2019.
“Astute investors realise the difficulty of navigating the complexities of the global investment universe, the multitude of investment options and the impact of global events (like the Covid-19 virus currently causing havoc on all leading markets), political risk and regulations on returns. This has been the main driver of the growth we achieved, but in addition, investors are seeking and value our independence, offering global accessibility to multiple geographies, asset classes and investment opportunities,” Butchart says.
“Beyond the physical infastructure we also added capacity in our team. A senior financial advisor and Certified Financial Planner® professional, Desmond Benecke, joined our Johannesburg team from Standard Bank Private Wealth this month, and we added junior financial planners and para-planners at our Stellenbosch, Cape Town and Pretoria offices. Furthermore, we have several employees currently studying towards the CFP® designation as part of our strategy to be prepared and have sufficient capacity to serve future clients’ needs and to deliver on our commitment to providing our team with development opportunities.”
Brenthurst’s Mauritius office offers a full suite of financial services to assist South African companies and individuals wanting to invest in or relocate to the island. The offering includes a property service to guide potential investors about acquiring property in Mauritius. Because of the demand, Brenthurst added a Mauritius property centre, which will be based at the new Sandton office, where investors can view various opportunities and understand the process and costs to buy property in Mauritius.
Brenthurst Wealth was co-founded by Butchart, Magnus Heystek and Sue Heystek in 2004 with one office in Fourways. It has 2 300 clients nationwide and assets under management in excess of R7 billion.
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