Arnold Werbeloff

If someone came to you tomorrow with R100m to invest in just one company, which would it be?

Apple. This group commands strong (almost evangelistic) brand loyalty, dominance via a range of market-leading products and unequalled market value.

Which talent would you most like to have?

To predict markets with stunning accuracy every time. Knowing tomorrow’s news today would be a great advantage.

What was your first job?

I joined Edgars Stores as a trainee in the group planning and research department.

If you found a lottery ticket tomorrow that had won $100m, what would you do with it?

Cash it in. Pay off anything owed. Distribute the rest among charitable organisations, stock markets, fixed deposits, property (a bungalow in Clifton and an apartment in Manhattan), fine SA art, and debentures for seats on centre court at Wimbledon.

If you could fix one thing in SA today, what would it be?

The lack of productivity and skills, especially among young people, relative to those of many of our trading partners. This has been my mission at the Vunani Securities Training Academy, which has been sponsored by Coronation Fund Managers for the past decade. A subscription to Netflix.

What’s the worst investment you’ve ever made?

My first car, which defied all my attempts to fix it.

Name a place you’ve been to that lives up to the hype.

Engelberg in Switzerland. I stayed there while playing in the World Veterans’ Table Tennis Championships in Lucerne. The scene from our apartment was a picture postcard of snowcovered Mount Titlis and its surrounds.

How much was your first pay cheque and what did you do with it?

R400. I paid my rent and other expenses. Then I went out to celebrate.

On what occasion do you lie?

I don’t.