Astute appoints chief operating officer

Astute FSE, the specialist information technology business that provides data exchange services to financial services companies, has announced the appointment of Philip van Schalkwyk as Chief Operating Officer.

A professionally qualified chartered accountant in South Africa and Namibia, Mr van Schalkwayk also has a Masters of Business Leadership degree from Unisa. He is an associate of the Institute of Risk Managers of South Africa.

He joined Astute from Sanlam Emerging Markets where he was responsible for special projects. Prior to that, he was chief financial officer at Sanlam Health International. Having started his career in the accounting profession in 1994, Mr van Schalkwyk has almost 20 years of experience in financial services in South Africa and Namibia.

After leaving auditing he was appointed financial manager at Namlife, the Windhoek-based subsidiary of African Life. He was subsequently promoted to chief financial officer at Namlife before being appointed senior manager in charge of group risk management at African Life in Johannesburg.

In 2005, African Life as acquired by Sanlam, where Mr van Schalkwyk went on to perform various executive functions.

Astute’s Managing Director, Biddie Biddulph commented: “Our business has experienced rapid growth over the past few years, which has required additional capacity, skills and resources amongst our top management team. Philip’s experience, qualifications and strategic insight mean he is well placed to help drive the ongoing development of the group.”