Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa February 2015 | Page 13

upfront
Q&A

M

arc Wainer, retired as CEO of Redefine
Properties last year, and is now acting as
Executive Chairman of the company. His
first move into property was when he appointed the
Kempton City mall manager in 1973 before becoming
one of SA’s top property tycoon’s almost four decades
later. His career and journey from small business to
achieving incredible financial success started when he
grew Redefine from its initial R400 million market
capitalisation to almost R50 billion assets under
management today. Marc shares his career lessons and
key achievements in real estate with REIM, which in
many cases was challenging but produced spectacular
financial results associated with valuable lessons.
Marc also recently released a book, Making My
Marc: Lessons from Life in Property, written by Tudor
Caradoc-Davies and inspired by the late Ian Fife,
a property journalist and investor. In his book, Marc
shares his experiences about the inner workings of
what really went on behind the scenes in South Africa’s
dynamic, highly-competitive commercial property
sector. Marc reveals a glimpse into some of the biggest
deals in the local market and how these deals were
done. He also shares the lessons he learned from them.
Marc attributes his success to a combination of luck,
being in the right place at the right time but believes
that you can create your own luck. When opportunities
were presented he feels he was brave enough to seize
the ones that came his way. He has worked and learnt
from special people that have helped him over the
years. He feels that people in property can learn from
his successes and failures when they are faced with
similar challenges. His underlying belief is that if you
have the passion and perseverance to succeed, then you
will.
He says that property is not the road to instant wealth
and is a slow and steady way of accumulating wealth
over time. His says no doubt there will be mistakes
made along the way and they should not be regarded as
failures but rather as learning experiences.

MARC’S
CAREER
MILESTONES
1968 - 1973
Worked in family grocery store,
which ended in disaster when it was
sold off fraudulently leaving the
family in massive debt.
www.reimag.co.za

1973 - 1975
Secured his first property job
as manger of Kempton City
shopping centre with Summit
Construction

1. What inspired you to write the book? The book was the idea
of financial journalist, Ian Fife, who unfortunately passed
away before we got it going. I also wanted it as a legacy for
my grandchildren.
2. What is your life and investment philosophy? If you dream it
you can do it.
3. What attributes do you feel has led to your success? Passion,
a drive to succeed, as well as a big focus on relationships.
4. What are the key lessons that you have learnt? Success is a
journey not a destination. There will be ups and downs, but
learn from your mistakes and do not repeat them.
5. What insights did you gain from the lessons? Sometimes the
best deals you can do are the ones you walk away from.
6. What key tools would you give investors to use from your
experiences? Know your strengths and your weaknesses and
employ the best people you can to do what you are not good
at.
7. What do you consider to be your most significant professional
achievement? The success of Redefine Properties, which was
listed in 2000. Redefine has grown from an initial market
cap of R400 million to over R40 billion.
8. How did you survive and succeed as a commercial property
investor? Learning from my mistakes and never giving up.
9. Who do you consider to be your most important mentors/
role models? Eric Ellerine with whom I have had a 26-year
partnership.
10. What has been your most significant property deal? The
acquisition of Canal Walk for Hyprop.
11. What motivates you? Growing Redefine’s income and
portfolio and doing things differently.
12. What is your vision for Redefine Properties in the future? Any
exciting projects on the cards? Redefine Properties should
remain one of the largest and most sought after property
stocks. We will continue to diversify our portfolio and look
forward to exciting investment opportunities which may
be outside what we have done in the past, such as student
accommodation and residential.
13. What opportunities do you foresee in the South African
and African commercial property investment industry in
2015? 2015 will be another tough year, but the falling oil
price should help consumer spending. There will be some
opportunities, but international markets are offering better
returns.

1975 - 1981
Banks pull the plug on
Summit Construction and Marc
forms Citiplan a property
management company

1981 - 1988
Marc sells Citiplan to I. Kuper
and Company and launches
Incity, specialists in sectional
title conversions.

1989 – 1995
Joins Investec after it
merged with MetBoard
which had acquired
Incity

February 2015 SA Real Estate Investor

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