Stephen van Coller could not have wished for a better start to his new job. Absa Capital, once a distinctly second-division merchant bank, won nine of the FM/JSE Spire Awards for its role in the fixed-interest markets, including the coveted best fixed-income house.
Van Coller quietly took over from John Vitalo in October and could not be more different. Vitalo, an intense and edgy ex-Marine, is used by Absa's parent Barclays as a turnaround artist and is a man accustomed to imposing the Barclays culture and systems on an acquired business.
Van Coller is the classic rainmaker, who specialises in bringing deals and improving coverage in the corporate market. He spent 10 years at Deutsche Bank, where he ended up as head of coverage & corporate advisory, which includes mergers & acquisitions, equity capital markets and structured finance.
"I most definitely could not be described as a trader," he says.
Van Coller misses the time he used to spend with clients. "I guess being an executive means managing people who do what you used to like doing."
What could have been a conventional financial career, after Van Coller took his accounting articles at the then Arthur Young, took an unusual turn when, in 1992, he became the financial manager of the UK's Richmond Fellowship. It was a mental-health institution that looked after victims of sexual abuse and sufferers from conditions such as schizophrenia. As part of the UK government's project for care in the community, Richmond was expected to run on much stricter cash-flow budgets than before and introduce modern reporting systems.
Van Coller came back to SA in 1996 to join Deutsche's project finance business. When he was given the chance to join Absa Capital in 2006, it was a challenge, since its predecessor, Absa Corporate & Merchant Bank, was second-division, particularly on equity as opposed to debt products. Van Coller had to set up the institutional equities from scratch.
"I think the great thing about Absa Capital is that it is fully global and fully local. This contrasts to, say, a Deutsche Bank, which does not have a day-to-day banking relationship with any of the large corporates, or one of our local competitors, which does not have the international connections Barclays brings us. We were the only SA bank, for example, to be an adviser in the MTN/Bharti negotiations."
Van Coller and Vitalo now have the same reporting line to Benoît de Vitry, head of emerging markets at Barclays Capital, though Van Coller also reports to Absa CEO Maria Ramos. Van Coller clearly enjoys the interaction with clients and staff.
He chose Stellenbosch as his university primarily because of its reputation for athletics, though he did get round to studying economics, computer science and maths and taking an honours in management accounting.
He says he can't rule out getting offers to move within the Barclays group. "But I think as I get older [he is still a mere 43], I look more closely at balancing family and career."
He is married with three children and two stepchildren.
"SA still has a lot to offer, especially for me because I love outdoor activities such as rock climbing, golf and jogging." He tries to restrict his overseas travel to once a month.
Van Coller leads a brand-new team. None of the members of his executive committee was there three years ago; nor were 75% of the overall staff of 1 300. With its move from Absa Towers in the CBD to Alice Lane in Sandton, Absa Capital is in the heart of SA's merchant banking district.
Absa Capital has a different logo from the rest of Absa and uses a rather cryptic slogan: "Born to Redefine" (Absa is the largest tenant of Redefine Properties after government).
"We present a different face to the market since our clients' needs and aspirations are different from those of retail clients."
HOW HE CHILLS
 Rock climbing and other outdoor activities
Golf when he gets the chance
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But Van Coller is a supporter of Ramos's One Absa initiative. "We need to break down the silos. There needs to be a consistent level of excellence in the client experience.
"We must follow Henry Ford's adage to become excellent at doing something more efficiently. We have concentrated on the top-40 SA companies. But we need to look at the investment banking opportunities for a much deeper group of companies; for example, those who need specialist advice on foreign exchange or interest rate derivatives."
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