Page 79 - KZN Top Business LEADERS-eBook

ROB KELSO

ob Kelso is the chief executive officer of into a business where I feel we have a daily impact operations. “We’ve obviously had a number of
SA Home Loans. He is a proud ‘Durban on our clients and the people around us.” challenges in KZN and South Africa in recent years
boy’ who was schooled at Westville Boys where we as a business had to come together. If
In addition, as a corporate citizen, SA Home Loans
R High School and then studied for a BCom you as a management team are seen as present
prides itself on being an active and positive role
at University of Natal, Howard College campus. and engaged, that gives people the confidence to
model to the people and the communities it serves,
He qualified as a chartered accountant in 2001, ride out those tough periods.”
which is equally important to him.
completing articles at the Deloitte Durban office
SA Home Loans are true believers in KZN’s potential
and thereafter spent two and a half years in the On a professional level Rob counts among his
audit and consulting practice. accomplishments his participation in the team as an employment and lifestyle destination of
that built the SA Home Loans business from a choice in the country. Rob said, ‘We are that rare
Rob has been with SA Home Loans for 19 years and small ‘newcomer’ into an established player in the animal with a financial services head office here in
during this time has worked across the breadth of national housing market, and widely recognised as KZN, and the potential is enormous. We have the
the organisation including ten years as the chief the preeminent securitisation issuer in the country. skill sets, there are people who live here and who
financial officer. In this position he focused on want to live here. The question is, ‘How do we get
entrenching and diversifying the securitisation CAREER DEFINING MOMENT everyone to work together to reclaim that space?”
and funding platform of the business, which he
says is ’the life blood of what we do’. Rob then Rob says that the biggest career challenge he has A ROLE MODEL
moved into the chief operating officer role, where faced was the global financial crisis back in 2009 Rob is guided to achieve by a number of principles.
he spent five years looking after the broader and 2010, which had a profound impact on SA At a personal level he is inspired by the people
operations across the group, before being Home Loans, a relatively small, non-bank lender at closest to him, and strives to act in a way that is
appointed CEO in 2021. the time.
admired and respected by his family and those
His role is to execute on the strategy of the “The global financial markets were in turmoil and around him, and which is true to his faith – no
business across the SA Home Loans group, which liquidity was really tough to come by. As a young matter the role.
includes the home loan, short term insurance and newly appointed CFO that was a career defining To accomplish these goals, the best advice Rob
life insurance pillars. moment in terms of the pressures and the lessons has adopted is to ‘Be true to yourself’ and to be
learned. But while stressful at the time, invaluable
CHANGING LIVES in terms of moulding and forging a way forward. consistent and authentic in all avenues of life. “It’s
Crisis often does teach the best lessons, and I look great to have role models and people you look up
Its unique position as a Durban based financial back at that period and say it was unpleasant, but to who have been successful. However, if you’re
services head office and a national pioneer in the for the business and personally, it was a hugely going to be successful, you can’t emulate others
securitisation markets is, said Rob, what attracted valuable growth experience.” or be something that you’re not. In leadership
him to SA Home Loans. “It was a rare opportunity that is a principle I hold quite close. I need to
in Durban to get into a business, which was in While every business has its tough patches, the present in my professional career as I am in my
financial services, in the debt capital market property market is cyclical so there is a continual personal life, so be true to my values, my morals,
side, and which was pioneering and offering an need to motivate and keep people focused within and my frameworks. An important cornerstone
investment banking type of career.” the business. “As a team, good times are easy, the for me is to be able to say I deliver that in every
tough times are where the true mettle shows. If aspect of life.”
Much of Rob’s career with SA Home Loans has you build a team that trusts each other, who trusts
been driven and inspired by the positive impact the journey you’re on and doesn’t start to question He believes in the power of asking the question
that the business has on people’s lives, especially the strategy or the direction as soon as things get ‘what is best?’. “What is the best about the person
first-time home owners. “Our mission statement tough, that’s a big step in terms of managing and we work with? What is the best about the country
is about changing lives; it’s about creating home getting through obstacles,” explained Rob. where I live? I think that changes the narrative
ownership for all South Africans. That is a purpose somewhat. There’s a lot to be positive about if
which really resonates with me and has taken me a In addition, SA Home Loans are believers in you slip through the negativity, which I think we
step beyond investment banking and accounting ensuring that everybody is engaged in the business should all be looking to unlock,” concluded Rob.
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