Emperor Asset Management and Easy
Equities
CEO
Charles Savage
Day 1
Workshop 1
12:30-12:55
The retirement
conundrum: Are you
ready for retirement?
Day 2
Workshop 2
10:00-10:25
Charles joined GT247.com in 2001 as Head of Technology where he was
responsible for the groups IT strategy and systems. In this capacity he was part
of the team that pioneered online CFD and Spread Trading in South Africa whilst
leading the development of the world’s first fully automated online Spread
Trading platform. Promoted to Managing Director of South African operations
in 2003 he was a member of the group’s global executive team and led the
buyout by the Purple Group in 2007, soon thereafter he was promoted to CEO
of GT247.COM
Elected CEO of the Purple Group in 2011, Charles is responsible for strategically
leading the operating business units of the group, which include GT247.com,
EasyEquities, GT Private Broking and Emperor Asset Management. Charles is an
Executive Director and member of the Purple Group Board. The Groups most
recent innovation, EasyEquities powered by GT247.com, was launched in August
2014 and has since been awarded the Business Day Investors Monthly – Best
Broker for the young saver award and the prestigious Accenture Innovation
Award for the most Innovative Concept of 2014.
Charles is passionate about driving innovation within the retail financial services
sector. His guiding principle is to “make it easy” by focusing on delivering
products and services that engage, educate, inspire and simplify. His goal is to
lead the sector to cast aside barriers to entry and in so doing present a new
friendly face for the future of retail financial services.
Charles completed matric at St Stithians College and a BCom Accounting and
Information Systems at the University of Cape Town, thereafter he spent a few
years traveling and working overseas before returning to South Africa in 1998.
Investing made #EASY
GM Investments
Executive Director and Investment &
Retirement Planning Specialist
Craig Gradidge
Day 1
Workshop 1
11:00 - 11:25
Opportunities in
Broad-Based Black
Economic Empowerment
share schemes.
Craig graduated from Wits University in 1995 with a BCom having majored
in investments and Corporate Finance. He completed his BCom Honours at
UNISA in 1998 where he majored in Advanced Finance and Investments. Soon
after that he was appointed Unit Trust Researcher at Profile Media, and was
responsible for compiling the Unit Trusts Handbook. He joined Old Mutual Unit
Trusts in 2001 and was responsible for turning around a poor performing region
for them. He was appointed Head of Marketing at OM Unit Trusts in 2005
and served on the Executive Committee of that business until 2007 when he
was moved into an institutional Investment Marketing role in Johannesburg.
He co-founded Gradidge-Mahura Investments with partner, Kagisho Mahura
in June 2008. He read his MBA at UCT in 2008/09 and his thesis focused on
the impact of the capital structure of public BBBEE shares on value creation.
He passed the Post Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning at UFS in 2010
and became a Certified Financial Planner in 2011. He serves as Vice Chairperson
of the Investment Competency Committee of the FPI, and is an independent
expert on the Finance Committee of Medshield.