Industry veteran Merwen Mellet joins Sanlam Private Investments’ board

Sanlam Private Investments (SPI) today announced the appointment of Merwen Mellet, founding partner of stockbrokerage Barnard Jacob Mellet and veteran of South Africa’s private client industry, as non-executive director.

Daniël Kriel, CEO of SPI, said that he was delighted to welcome a director of Mellet’s calibre to the SPI board. “We expect that he will make a major contribution to the growth of SPI and look forward to drawing on his years of experience.”

Mellet’s appointment to the SPI board means that his career has come full circle. His first ever job was at Sanlam where he spent 13 years in the Sanlam Investments division while completing his BCom and Bcom Honours (Investments) at the University of Stellenbosch. Mellet also spent time at stockbrokerage George Huyshamer where he completed his articles and board exams.

Mellet, Paul Barnard and Kevin Jacobs decided to start their own company and Barnard Jacobs Mellet (BJM) Holdings Limited was born in 1985. They developed an exceptional name for themselves as brokers and opened offices in the USA, Scotland and Switzerland. BJM was the first stock brokerage to list on the JSE. In 1999, BJM started a private client business and Mellet assumed responsibility for this division. Health reasons forced him to reduce his responsibilities but to stay on non-executive director of BJM Holdings. He resigned from all his responsibilities at BJM during 2009.

Kriel says, “Since Merwen’s health has improved dramatically, he could not resist the temptation to once again be involved with private clients and the stock market and although he joins us in a non-executive capacity, our business and clients will no doubt benefit from his involvement.”

Mellet says that returning to Sanlam in this capacity is a true personal milestone. “Having spent more than a decade with Sanlam at the beginning of my career – and learning more or less everything I know during this time – it is extremely fitting for me to also spend the latter part of my career with the group. I am looking forward to making a contribution to the future success of Sanlam Private Investments.”