By Wezi Tjaronda
WINDHOEK
Economist, Martin Mwinga, has been appointed the Chief Executive Officer of Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) Asset Management Namibia.
He is the first to hold the position. Group CEO of First National Bank Namibia Holdings and Chairman of RMB Asset Management Namibia, Vekuii Rukoro, announced the appointment on Tuesday.
A statement issued by the bank’s Marketing and Communications Department said RMB Asset Management Namibia, 50 percent owned by FNB Namibia Holdings is the fastest growing asset management company in the country.
Mwinga’s appointment is effective from November 1. He told New Era yesterday he was happy to assume the new position because he started the branch from scratch in 2004 and has seen it grow.
“They have now transferred that responsibility to me,” he said.
Since its inception three years ago, the company’s assets under management have grown to well over N$3 billion across a diversified base of retail and institutional clients, said the statement.
Mwinga graduated from the University of Namibia then did Masters degrees in Economics at the University of London and Macquire University in Australia.
He is a Certified Associate of the Association of Bankers (CAIB) and has a Diploma in Unit Trusts Investment from the Institute of Bankers in South Africa.
Mwinga started his career as a teacher in 1987 in the Caprivi Region. He was later employed as a mineral economist with the Ministry of Mines and Energy and then moved to the Bank of Namibia as Manager of Banking and Finance and later as the Manager of Statistics.
In 1999, Mwinga joined the private sector and worked for STANLIB (part of the Standard Bank Group) as an Investment Manager before becoming an independent economic and investment consultant through Sichaba Consultancy.
He also lectured Economics at UNAM before moving on to join RMB Asset Management Namibia in February 2004 as a Portfolio Manager.
“RMB Asset Management has an active investment philosophy based on fundamental analysis, and has superior skills in managing investments in all the major asset classes. RMB Asset Management Namibia is proactive in its decision-making process and our proprietary research and valuation methodology sets us apart from our competitors,” said Mwinga.