Rothschild looks back on an illustrious JSE career

MICHAEL BELLING

He was given an official farewell by the JSE on Monday, when he blew a ceremonial kudu horn. 

“The kudu horn is a significant instrument for companies on the JSE,” he said. “They blow the horn when a new company is listed. [On Monday] I had that honour of blowing it at the opening of the market.”

A JSE board member from 1991 to 2008, his current position is Head: Government and International Affairs.

He is a long-serving judge of the Jewish Achiever awards, which he considers “an encouragement to Jewish entrepreneurs and business people.

“It identifies role models and gives recognition to those who have really achieved,” he told the SA Jewish Report.

“I think the Jewish Achievers has made a difference.”

Retiring after a long, varied and successful career as a stockbroker, he spent most of his business life with Frankel Pollack, which was taken over in the 1990s by Sasfin Securities. He continued to hold many senior positions with Sasfin until 2003.

After 2003 he worked fulltime in the JSE marketing and education department. In this capacity he also worked with government, before taking on the responsibilities of government and international affairs at the JSE.

Rothschild began his career as an accountant with Kessel Feinstein, where he worked for almost 10 years. One of his auditing duties was checking the accounts of a stockbroker, which led to his entering stockbroking himself in 1974.

The stockbroking and JSE environment is vastly different today from when he first started, not only from the point of view of automation, but also the skills required, he said.

His activities have spread beyond the JSE. Since 2004, he has been a director of the Nepad (New Partnership for Africa’s Development) Business Foundation, which provides a policy framework for accelerating economic co-operation and integration among African countries.

He is a member of the Committee of Southern African Stock Exchanges and of the Committee of SADC Stock Exchanges and also serves on the executive of the African Stock Exchange Association.

He has long been involved in many charitable activities, which he will continue after his retirement. These include his being a patron of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital and Education Africa.

Rothschild is a trustee of Brand South Africa, where he heads its audit committee and serves on its marketing committee.

“Other things are rearing their heads,” he says, looking ahead, “but nothing definite yet.”

He will be doing some consulting work for international companies, dealing with “the world, the country and the continent”.

He has been married to his wife Barbara for 44 years – “we have known each other for 55 years”, he said. They have two sons and four grandchildren.

Their sons Andrew and Paul own a highly successful fitness business and are based in Cape Town.