Samke Ngwenya, 29, talks to us about her career as a Private Banker with a leading global private bank.
I finished school in… 2002 in Cape Town and went on to study at the University of Cape Town the following year. I started with a Business Science (Finance and Accounting) degree but changed streams due to personal challenges. I graduated with a BCom in Financial Accounting.
My first job was … with Mazars – a medium-sized audit firm in Cape Town. I was doing audit articles as I wanted to become a Chartered Accountant. However, eighteen months into my articles I decided to change careers as I did not enjoy audit. As much as I am good with numbers, I realised I enjoy working with people more – specifically around using numbers to help provide financial solutions.
I now work as a Private Banker… I look after a number of individual clients spread across racial and age groups. In my line of work, no two days are ever the same as we look after clients across our four main product houses being transactional banking, asset finance, foreign exchange and cash investments. So in one day you may acquire a new client, finance a holiday home, facilitate an offshore investment transfer and help a client invest in a long-term savings product. My day basically consists of me providing a range of financial solutions to clients.
What I love most about my job is… helping people become financially savvy. This is because in my life I have seen people get into trouble because they do not know how to handle their finances, particularly credit, and this may result in them becoming financially crippled. I have found that this is mainly because they don’t understanding how banking works. As a result, I really enjoy imparting knowledge on how the financial system works so that people can use it to their advantage in order to further themselves.
The biggest challenge I face in my job… is being a young black female trying to help people manage their finances. I have to work hard initially to prove myself and earn a client’s trust. Once that hurdle is crossed, the role is very enjoyable and rewarding.
To survive in my industry… you need to be curious, more than anything. You need to be curious about what’s happening in your client’s life, the financial markets, your competitors and new products as these are always changing. If you are not curious you will not be at the forefront of providing the best financial solutions for your clients. Being curious and knowledgeable helps with even something as simple as holding an intelligent conversation with your clients. You also need to be highly energetic because banking is a fast-paced industry.
If you would like to follow my path… you need to identify a financial institution you would like to work for and ask to shadow a banker to get first-hand experience of what they do. From there you would need to follow the formal recruitment process by submitting your CV to their HR department, and wowing the socks off the interview panel!
