Warren Repko – Director

Life

I live in Waterkloof, Pretoria and am married with two children. Although I trained as an accountant, I have more of an affinity for people, financial planning and investing, so I pursued a different path soon after university. I like good coffee, dining out, travel, theatre and movies and unlike most of my generation, I really enjoy anything ‘techy’, new technological innovation and the latest gadgets.

I did a B. Com (Accounting) degree at RAU (now University of Johannesburg) and completed national service at SARS as a Tax Auditor in the inspectorate division. I completed the CFP ® (Certified Financial Planner) qualification of the Financial Planning Institute (FPI) as well as the Advanced Post Graduate diploma in Investment Planning through the University of the Orange Free State and the FPI.

I have worked in the financial services industry since 1990, having spent much of this time at Standard Bank and the Liberty Group in various capacities. I spent 4 years with Liberty as branch manager of the Sandton and Randburg branches. Following this, I was the national marketing manager for Standard Bank Financial Consultants. My last corporate appointment was Head of Investment Marketing for retirement funds at Liberty Life, a capacity I held for 7 years.

I served on the Johannesburg chapter committee of the Financial Planning Institute, as well as their marketing committee and Employee Benefits Industry Sector Committee in addition I served a 6-year term as an independent trustee of Liberty Life’s Retirement Annuity funds, where I served in the Investment sub-committee amongst others.

Money

I regard money to be more of a means rather than an end, in-itself. This sentiment ties in nicely with Omega’s strapline of “Life, Money, Balance”. Money is a great enabler and is, something that reveals character, more than it creates it. With money comes great responsibility, and this always raises the question of why so many people who have it, seem burdened by it? When it comes to money and giving the right advice, one cannot be all things to all people which is why we try to align ourselves with like-minded clients so we can work together to achieve the best possible outcomes.

Balance

I love to travel both locally and abroad. While I have travelled extensively, there are still many places to see and things to experience. I enjoy new restaurants and – thinking time in coffee shops. Pretoria is a good place to live for both of these. As I am probably much more X generation than my own generation, that combined with my love for ‘tech’ contributes to a healthy balance between that of my personal life, and the time I put in at making a success of my client’s investments.