A Celebration of 10 years of Business

Menachem Kay, Managing Director, Octagon Financial

Celebrating ten years of doing business is an excellent landmark for reflecting on milestones and achievements as we celebrate our company’s growth from strength to strength.

In building our business, we have not been content to be just good at what we do; we aim to be brilliant at it. This has included a specific focus on looking after our clients and gaining superior returns for them. Growing wealth for our clients is and always has been our primary business. The philosophies behind what we do are passion and business excellence.

Our passion over the past years has been, and continues to be, building relationships. We have persevered to develop relationships of trust with our clients, partners and industry colleagues.

One of the hallmarks of our success has been intentionally seeking out and listening to our business partners and specifically members of our executive committee that have had many years of business know-how. Right from our very start, we have been extremely privileged to have been able to tap into the wealth of knowledge from our partners and Exco members that have been around, that have built up businesses, families and successful lives, and we are all the richer for the insights that they have so generously shared with us.

As we have grown, we have created designated silos within Octagon Financial to manage and optimise the different wealth management and financial services that we offer. Offering a wide range of financial services has meant that we are able to take care of the various financial services needs that our clients have. We are extremely proud of the investment returns we have produced for our private and corporate client base. Our local and offshore portfolios, ranging from conservative to aggressive, have performed particularly well.

In addition to our local, offshore and treasury investment portfolios, we offer life assurance, short term insurance and healthcare solutions, employee benefit consulting, estate planning, and a number of other services for both our private and our corporate clients.

We don’t believe that wealth can be managed in isolation; holistic management of clients wealth, with an understanding and willingness to listen to them, and build relationships is essential for the long-term interaction with clients that we see in the financial services sector. We care about all aspects of our clients’ lives and have sought to walk alongside them through all the ups and downs that life brings.

When I started Octagon Financial in 2003, it was a means of providing for my family, but what began as a way of making a living has become a passion. I love what I do. Relationships, developing people and growing wealth intersect at a point that makes me excited to come to work every day.

A passion for what we do feeds into our second business philosophy of commitment to carrying out excellence in every part of what we do. Our second decade as a business is set to continue on this strong foundation of excellence and we trust that this will benefit everyone that we work for and with.

The people that work with us are all excellent themselves and play a major roll in helping our business to remain on the cutting edge of our industry. We aim to create a business culture that people love to work in and have invested in and seen great reward from our financial planning team. They carry with them the passion and excellence that has been invested in the business since its inception.

It is impossible to say too much about our back office staff. They have also played such a key role in keeping the fires burning, implementing the necessary practical business elements that help our clients realise growth and have been an integral part of making Octagon Financial what it is today.

The financial services industry in South Africa, and indeed around the world, has seen a move towards consolidation, with an increasing cost of staying abreast of industry compliance requirements and a shifting global financial landscape. Through this all, Octagon Financial has remained relevant, up to date with industry developments and has thrived. Over the past ten years we have established a strong base on which to continue growing our excellent business.

As we look ahead to the next decade, we have much cause for confidence in the people we have in our company, the opportunity for growth in South African and the chance to continue building relationships of significance with our most valuable asset, our clients.