John Eckstein

John is the Managing Director of Advantage and Ci Collective Investments, as well as a Director of Strategic Investment Partners and Ci Global Fund Managers. He is a founder of the Advantage Group (previously Analytics Consulting), established through a management buyout from the Investec Group in 2004.

Before this, John spent seven years with Investec, primarily at Investec Asset Management as Director of Investec Fund Managers and Investec Investment Management Services, where he was responsible for legal, technical, and retail product development.

He also worked at Investec Treasury, developing local and offshore product structures, and earlier in his career practised law at Jacob Robbertse Inc. for four years.

Peter Dreyer

Peter is the Financial Director of Advantage and Ci Collective Investments. He began his career by completing his three-year accounting articles with BDO, before moving to London to join Merrill Lynch Investment Managers as a Fund Accountant.

After two years in the UK, he returned to South Africa and took on the role of Financial Manager for a leading group in the manufacturing industry. Three years later in 2009, Peter transitioned into the investment industry, joining Advantage (previously Analytics Consulting), where he has played a key role in the company’s financial leadership and growth.

Nadine van Taak

Nadine entered the asset management and financial services industry in 2002 after completing her three-year accounting articles. She began her career at Old Mutual as the Investment Specialist for the Western Cape and later Gauteng. In 2005, she joined Investec in Pretoria as the Regional Manager for the LISP.

From 2008 to 2011, she was part of the Retail Fund Manager team at Investec Asset Management in Cape Town, where she focused on fund analysis and quantitative research.

In June 2011, Nadine joined Trivium Capital as a Portfolio Manager and Investment Analyst, before moving to Advantage (previously Analytics Consulting) in October 2014. She has also completed Level II of the CFA qualification.

Brenda Ainsworth

Brenda is Head of Governance and Compliance for the Advantage Group (previously Analytics Consulting). She began her career at TMA in 1996, before moving to Prudential Portfolio Managers as Operations Manager from 1997 to 2000. She later served as Operations and Compliance Manager at PSG Collective Investments (2000–2006) and as Operations Manager at Allan Gray.

In 2008, Brenda joined Element Investment Managers as Operations Manager for Retail and Compliance, before moving to Ci Collective Investments in 2013. She was appointed Head of Governance and Compliance for the Advantage Group in 2016.

Michael Jordi-Romero

Michael holds a Bachelor of Business Science in Finance from the University of Cape Town. He began his career at Maitland Fund Services in 2014 as an Institutional Client Accountant in hedge funds, later becoming team leader of the Hedge Fund Administration division.

He joined Advantage (previously Analytics Consulting) in 2016 in Investment Operations and has since gained extensive experience across multiple departments. Michael currently serves as Chief Operating Officer.

Mark Holdt

Mark is a CFA Charterholder and holds the FRM designation. Prior to joining Advantage (previously Analytics Consulting), he spent a decade at Stonehage Fleming, initially as part of the investment team serving ultra-high-net-worth individuals.

While in London, he co-founded Twinwood, a consulting company focused on complex data and reporting challenges in private wealth. Mark later returned to Stonehage Fleming, where he served as IT Director until February 2018.

Jacques du Toit

Jacques heads up Business Development and the Partner Support team. He holds a BCom (Hons) in Financial Economics and Portfolio Management, a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning, and is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®).

He began his career in 2008 as an independent financial advisor and later joined a boutique asset management company in 2015, focusing on business development. Jacques joined Advantage (previously Analytics Consulting) in October 2021, where he focuses on business growth and partner integration.