Introducing Ricardo Sardien, Chief Financial Officer of Old Mutual Botswana

As a young man growing up in Mitchell’s Plain, violence seemed normal to Ricardo Sardien. He’d walk down the street and see someone get stabbed, and he’d go to school and watch a gang shootout on the sportsfield. He had even lost a friend to this violence. Now, Ricardo had a choice. He could either let this violence define him or he could choose something different. He chose something different. He chose to focus on school, get good grades, go to university and work hard to get to where he wanted to be. 

In school, he was always the top performer, volunteered at a soup kitchen and never got into trouble. When one of his teachers realised his potential, they made a special effort to get him enrolled at a school that could help him reach this potential. Not only did it help improve his academic performance but also allowed him to apply for and graduate with a degree in Financial Accounting at the University of Cape Town. 

Once again, at University, the hardworking Ricardo proved that his teacher was right to have faith in him. When he graduated, he was placed on the Dean’s merit list and he was invited to become part of the Golden Key Honours Society. To be part of this society, Ricardo had to be in the top performing 15% of students and of course, that he was. Not only that, but he was pretty good at computers, so it was no surprise that he was the top student in Information Systems.  

After graduating, Ricardo’s first job was as trainee auditor at a small Cape Town based accounting firm where he once again proved himself by working hard. He was promoted to Senior Auditor, moved over to Grand Parade Investments where he became the Group Financial Accountant and then its Finance Business Partner. It was in 2018 that he finally joined Old Mutual, becoming its Africa Holdings Finance Manager and then the Africa Region Head of Tax Reporting and Accounting. 

Currently, Ricardo is the Chief Financial Officer of ‘Old Mutual Botswana’ as well its Investment Committee Chairperson. In addition , he also acts as the Chief Operating Officer as well as the Old Mutual Investment Group’ s Non-Executive Director.

One person he credits for his success is his father, who had made sure that his son realised that the violence that surrounded him was not how he should define himself. His dad wanted him to become a man that would choose to better himself and that is what Ricardo did. In fact, Ricardo ended up becoming the man that any father would be proud of.