Kevin Shames
Chief Executive Officer
B.Com, B.Acc, C.A.(S.A.), CFA
Kevin started his career at Investec Bank in 1991 after completing his articles at Price Waterhouse. Kevin was a property trader and then moved onto the futures desk which he headed for 5 years. He was rated the number 1 futures broker in the Financial Mail survey in 1996 and 1997. He left in 1997 to start his own business, Mercury Consolidated Holdings. Mercury specialised in derivative broking, structured products, risk management and specialised fund management. Mercury was sold to Peregrine Holdings in April 2001.
Kevin was the Managing Director of Peregrine Securities from April 2001 – April 2002, where after he established a hedge fund incubator within the Peregrine group. He ran and assisted in a number of hedge funds until September 2004. Kevin then joined Alpha Asset Management, a fund of hedge funds and was responsible for setting up and managing a range of funds of hedge funds. In April 2007, Kevin established Nexus Asset Management, a business that established and managed a range of hedge funds and long only funds. Nexus changed its name to Genometry Fund Managers in 2010.
Kevin set up and was the President of the South African Hedge Fund Association in 1999 and worked closely with the FSB in designing the regulatory framework for hedge funds in South Africa. The SAHFA was replaced by AIMA (Alternative Investment Management Association) in 2003 and Kevin chaired this body until October 2005. Kevin was also appointed as a Board member of the Global AIMA Board for this period. Kevin was awarded the Symmetry Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Hedge Fund Industry in 2005.
Kevin Shames is a founding member of Bright Light in 2017.
