When finweek spoke to David Hufton, joint CEO of Sygnia Asset Management, he was at home “on one of the very rare occasions”. South Africa had just marked 300 days under national lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus and Hufton had been in the office for virtually every single one of those days.
He formed part of the firm’s skeleton crew that manned the ship after Sygnia was classified as an essential financial services provider when the lockdown was instituted. Also, during this time, Sygnia’s board appointed Hufton to the joint CEO role with immediate effect, conveying a message of confidence in him and his co-CEO, Magda Wierzycka, that “the joint CEOs will steer Sygnia through these turbulent times and beyond”.
He was previously the deputy CEO of Sygnia and prior to joining the firm in February 2016 was a member of the executive committee of Alexander Forbes for many years and held various leadership roles there.
Managing by serving
Hufton’s approach to leadership has been no different at Sygnia than it was at Alexander Forbes. He swears by surrounding oneself with people who are more expert than you, which he believes is key to not only his success but the company’s too.
“I am only as strong as my team can be and that is key to delivering on our goals,” he explains the reasoning behind his servant leadership approach, as opposed to top-down leadership that is critiqued as outdated and counterproductive.
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