Climbing the ladder
Funeka Montjane, née Ntombela, has steadily risen up the Standard Bank hierarchy over the past five years; last month she was appointed CEO of Standard Bank’s personal & business banking division.
At the relatively young age of 34, Montjane replaces Peter Schlebusch, who has been promoted to group level where he will spearhead the bank’s retail thrust into Africa.
Montjane, whose appointment was described by some banking insiders as momentous, also wed last month. Her husband, Lebogang Montjane, is a senior associate at Webber Wentzel.
“I have known him for 15 years as a friend but we decided to tie the knot,” she says. “I will be using his surname from now on.” She says she is excited about her marriage, more so because she is becoming an instant mother to a fiveyear-old daughter from her husband’s previous marriage.
Montjane was a partner at PwC before joining Standard Bank. She describes her new position as “nerve-racking”.
She is keenly aware of the huge competition that exists with the other big banks. “But luckily I have been a member of the team that has been planning and executing the retail strategy at Standard for the past few years.”
Montjane envisages no major change in strategy and will continue executing Schlebusch’s extensive retail growth plans, which he described as a war.
“We have reached a midpoint in executing the strategy and it would be dangerous to change course now,” she says.
The personal & business banking division and the commercial & investment banking division are the two most important divisions within Standard Bank, still the biggest bank by market value even though FirstRand momentarily surpassed it for one day last month. By driving one big division, Montjane has become one of the most influential executives at the bank.
A qualified chartered accountant with a master’s degree in commerce, Montjane started out at the bank as CFO at retail before being appointed director of home loans in April 2010. Here she and her team achieved success, with Standard toppling Absa from the top mortgage market spot.
She says though many competitors are punting products to customers, Standard is focusing more on winning customers. “What we have found is that customers really want easy, predictable banking.” But she readily admits this does not always happen.
Montjane says she is not focusing on her future at the bank. “I am handling the present challenges and would rather be known to have made a contribution by leaving a legacy.”
Her present position is unlikely to be the highest rung Montjane will reach at Standard Bank.