Meet the team
A wealth of expertise and experience to grow your wealth
Our company consists of a diverse team of professionals who offer an expansive skillset backed by extensive experience that covers every element of effective wealth and financial management. This diversity is critical to our offering and to our clients’ success:
We pride ourselves on gaining an in-depth understanding of all opportunities and challenges relating to our clients’ personal and business wealth and putting the relevant plans and structures in place to cater to these. With access to a range of trusted specialists, we are well-positioned to provide our clients with the expertise they need.
Your core team
Olof and Heidi Vorster head up the AYB team and are the first point of contact for all clients. Based on the committed, personal relationships they build with clients, they coordinate and match clients to the network of AYB experts.
Olof Vorster
Financial management
Olof is a CA(SA) and holds an MBA. In addition, he has completed several local and international courses in finance and business development.
During his career of approximately 30 years Olof has held various senior positions as finance manager and director, including at Protea Chemicals, Parmalat and British American Tobacco Plc. In these roles he was involved in all facets of business financing, led various finance teams (in South Africa and internationally), and managed internal and external stakeholder relationships.
Using his vast experience and passion for working with both people and numbers, Olof assists AYB’s business clients with simplifying and optimising their financial management to not only realise the true value of their business over time but also to free up time and focus to focus on day-to-day business.
“For me, success is if I can bring the numbers to life in a way that enable clients to make sound decisions.”
Heidi Vorster
Wealth management
Heidi is a qualified attorney and a certified financial planner (CFP®). She also holds an MBA.
Heidi has over 25 years’ experience in the industry at the likes of Discovery, Old Mutual, Santam and ABSA Private Bank. Throughout her career Heidi has been involved in financial education in various capacities through the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa.
At AYB, Heidi focuses on assisting clients with their wealth management.
In addition to her technical skills and experience across financial disciplines, Heidi brings invaluable psychological insights and a passion for coaching and guiding clients on effective wealth management across generations. This ability to manage and preserve family relations and explain complex principles plainly is at the heart of the long-term trust Heidi builds with clients.
“The most important step of any journey is to start.”
Loftus Theron
Financial management
Loftus is a CA(SA) with extensive knowledge in commercial finance management, business forecasting and financial analysis developed over a 28-year career working in South Africa and the United Kingdom.
He has held various senior finance positions in roles ranging from head of financial planning and analysis to commercial finance director in SMEs as well as internationally listed entities in the pharmaceutical, hospitality and property development and construction industries. In these roles he was involved in all facets of regulatory reporting, project finance and commercial financial management supporting founders and executive boards from a finance perspective.
Loftus aims to assists AYB’s business clients with implementing robust financial management principles, growing their businesses and creating valuable assets to sell or hand over to the next generation.
“I am dedicated to providing insightful and robust management information that drives sustainable business growth and enhances shareholder value.”
Francois Scholtz
Tax specialist
Francois is a registered tax practitioner and a member of the South African Institute of Taxation. He holds various tertiary qualifications ─ advanced certificate in tax, certificate in commercial crime investigation, BA degree in criminology (law) ─ that enable him to excel when he guides clients through the tax environment’s mazes.
Francois’s career spans more than 45 years in the SA tax environment. For most of this time he was either directly employed by the South African Revenue Services or in a consultant role at SARS. His understanding of all taxes (as governed by SA tax legislation) and their administration is difficult to find. This makes him an invaluable resource for AYB in our clients’ journey to keep their tax affairs in order and focus on value-adding activities.
Throughout his career he has received many awards ─ the SARS commissioner’s national award for service excellence in 2018 and 2019 are career highlights.
Francois’s approach to every AYB task is to drive it to the highest level of excellence. He always strives to optimise processes for clients. We do not only solve the problem at hand, but advise on the processes so that the client does not experience the same issues again. He also used process optimisation effectively at SARS to help in the modernisation project.
“With sound advice and guidance in the SA tax environment, clients can pay their taxes with confidence and focus on the aspects of their life that create value.”
Lizl Krige
Practice manager
Lizl has been the assistant and practice manager for several years and plays a vital role in the smooth operation of the financial practice. She generally oversees administrative functions and coordinates schedules, ensuring compliance with the financial Intelligence regulations and fostering a positive and efficient work environment.
Thanks to her background in psychology, she brings strong interpersonal skills, empathy and insight into human behaviour – qualities that help effectively manage team dynamics and support staff as well as clients.
“My goal is simple: create a supportive environment where advisors can focus on financial matters, staff feel valued and clients feel heard – because behind every provider and system, there are people who matter.”
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