Full Name: Anthony Govender

Position: Founder and CEO of ASI Financial Services and boardroom activist

Main Activity of the Company: Financial services and insurance brokerage, specialising in employee benefits, long-term insurance and short-term Insurance

Date and Place of Birth: April 15, 1979, Northdale, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal

Education: Financial Planner; Certificate in Health Economics, University of Pretoria

First Job: KFC store assistant; I then progressed to a call centre agent eight months later

Career History Prior to Current Position: Call centre agent, Southern Healthcare JV, 1997 to 1998; client services, Discovery Health, 1998 to 2002; regional director, NMG Consultants & Actuaries, 2002 to 2008

Size of First Pay Packet: R850 a month

First Job with Present Group: Director and head of strategy

Value of Assets under Your Control: R42-billion in insurance premium and assets under advice. The estimated value of the company is R301-million

Number of People under Your Leadership: 230-plus

Management Style: I see myself as a coach and mentor rather than a manager

Personal Best Achievement: I have never missed any day of significance for my family in 18 years. This has been a point of particular poignancy for me, as my father, a drug addict and alcoholic, abandoned my mother and I when I was five

Professional Best Achievement: Building ASI, with no funding or financial backing, into a solid, independently owned company with an estimated value of R301-million. It takes care of over one-million South African clients’ financial advisory needs

Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Life: My mother, a domestic worker who graduated to be a textile worker in the mid-1980s with only a primary school education

Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: Former NMG CEO Andrew Sykes

Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Anthony Robbins

Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Peter Armitage and Bonang Mohale

Philosophy of Life: Love and respect are free; I am generous with mine

Biggest Ever Opportunity: The opportunity to work with the Government Employees Medical Scheme in advising over one-million civil servants has given me the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of the South Africans that keep our country running

Biggest Ever Disappointment: Losing one of our founding members, and the level of corruption in the South African economy

Hope for the Future: That ASI continues to develop and empower the South African brokerage market through the ASI Robo Advisor, followed by a public listing, and that I leave ASI as a legacy business owned and run by South Africans

Favourite Reading: Anything about leadership and self-development – I am currently reading The Trillion Dollar Coach, by Bill Campbell, and have just completed Keith Coats and Graeme Codrington’s Leading in a Changing World

Favourite TV Programme: I have fun with my children watching Lip Sync Battle, but I do not watch much TV other than that

Favourite Food/Drink: Home-made Malay chicken biryani and coffee

Favourite Music: 90s RnB and Commercial Deep House when I work out, and classical music when I drive

Favourite Sport: Rugby

Favourite Website: ASI Financial Services and YouTube

Hobbies: Hiking, reading/audio books and international travel; I am also a car enthusiast

Car: Porsche 911

Pets: None

Miscellaneous Dislikes: Child abuse, disrespect and racism

Favourite Other South African Company: Discovery

Favourite Foreign Company: Shell, Goodyear, Ford

Clubs: Porsche Club