Albert started his journey as a BCom undergraduate at the University of Pretoria whilst simultaneously doing his accounting articles at Price Waterhouse Coopers. He completed his BCompt (Hons) at the University of South Africa, and qualified as a Chartered Accountant (CA, SA) 6 months later.
His career started with Standard Bank Group where he was first employed as a manager in the Banking Group. In 1995 a pivotal change was his secondment to incorporate the newly acquired JSE broker dealer into the group. This launched his career in the Securities business and he soon transferred to the New York office of the Group as CFO in 1999.
During his 20 years in New York, Albert’s responsibilities as CFO, then COO and President continued to increase, leading to his appointment as CEO of the US entities and Head of Corporate and Investment Banking, New York in 2009. When ICBC acquired a majority stake in the Standard Bank Group’s international activities in 2015, he became CEO and President of the ICBC Standard entities in the USA. In 2019, he semi-retired and started his own consulting agency mentoring executives, but was lured back in 2021 by FirstRand Group’s establishment of its US broker dealer in New York.
Over the years, Albert has served on the boards of several charitable organizations and he remains passionate about giving back.
Albert is married and has two children.
Quotable quote
“Servant leadership, commitment to your community and walking in the shoes of those you serve, lead to great outcomes.”