Graduating with a Bachelor of Law degree in 1985 Simon Stockley, after serving articles of clerkship, left the profession to pursue an independent career in property development and marketing, establishing and managing the Townhouse Group of Companies over a ten-year period.
In 1998 he began researching alternative funding mechanisms for the South African mortgage market and in January 1999, in association with venture capitalists, established South African Homeloans, South Africa’s first discount home loan specialist and non-bank mortgage lender. He was appointed the company’s first Chief Executive Officer in 2000, a position he held until his resignation in October 2004. Simon was instrumental in raising initial venture capital required in order to establish the enterprise and subsequently negotiated equity participation in the company with The International Finance Corporation, JP Morgan and Standard Bank.
During his tenure as CEO of SA Home Loans, the Company grew its mortgage portfolio from a zero base to in excess of R20 billion ($3.5 billion) and, at the time of his resignation, the business was taking on over 2000 clients per month, claiming a 15% market share of South Africa’s highly competitive mortgage market.
Simon has received numerous awards in recognition of his management and, particularly, his marketing expertise, including The Institute of Marketing Managers’ KwaZulu Natal Marketing Man of the Year Award and The British Airways/Natal Mercury Business Excellence Award.
He has spoken widely, both locally and internationally and has written numerous articles on “securitisation”. He led the team which brought South Africa’s first residential mortgage backed security issue (Thekweni 1) to the market in November 2001 and was, subsequent to this issue, intimately involved in the structuring and marketing of a further three Thekwini bond portfolios. The Thekwini securitisation program was the first private sector residential mortgage backed security issuance outside of Europe, Australia, and the USA and represents an international benchmark for Emerging Markets. Simon is acknowledged as the pioneer of South Africa’s now burgeoning securitisation industry.
Simon consulted exclusively to SA Home Loans for a year subsequent to his resignation and has, since November 2005, been retained by Kingdom Installment as an advisor to the Board. Kingdom Installment is a specialist loan finance company operating in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. During this period, Simon successfully launched the Gulf’s first Sharia compliant mortgage securitisation program (KSA MBS) and executed a strategic alliance on behalf of the Company with Arab National Bank and the International Finance Corporation, in terms of which KIC will be recapitalised in excess of $550 million, making it the largest specialist home loan finance company operating in the GCC.
In March 2007, Simon merged his investment and advisory activities under Catalis (Pty) Ltd, through which entity he now consults to a wide range of both national and international clients. Catalis has recently acquired a private equity stake in Integer, a mortgage start-up operation in Cape Town, where Simon is currently deployed as CEO, responsible for launching the company.
In addition to Simon’s executive responsibilities he acts as Non–Executive Chairman to a specialist mortgage finance company in Ghana, Ghana Home Loans, and is also the Non-Executive Vice Chairman of Diamond Mortgages, a Nigerian based mortgage lender.