About Vertus

Matthew Marais

Matthew Marais is responsible for Vertus Capital. After completing a business science honours (finance) degree at Cape Town University, Matthew worked for Accenture, before joining the Lombard Insurance Group as a portfolio manager. He subsequently joined Lombard Life Limited as the executive head of partnerships and new business development. It was here that Matthew became a founding director of BrightRock, a successful life insurance challenger brand in South Africa. Matthew has been focussed on debt and equity deals in the intermediary sector (financial advisers, insurance brokers and MGAs) for ten years. He is a certified financial planner (CFP®) and has practised as an active wealth and risk adviser in South Africa. Matthew is one of the founding directors of Vertus Capital Limited.

Lyon Botha

Lyon oversees financial strategy, operations and growth initiatives at Vertus. He previously provided outsourced CFO and COO services through his consultancy practice, providing strategic business reviews, acquisition due diligence and operational and financial direction for businesses. He was also the CEO, and prior to that CFO, at an international financial advisory business with over $1bn under advice

Jacob Lynch

Jacob is a Management Accountant. He began his career at Omnicom Media Group as an analyst, building a strong foundation in financial reporting and commercial analysis within a global media environment. He then advanced to Freud’s Group, where he played a key role in the in-house accounts team, supporting senior stakeholders with management accounting and business-critical financial insights. Jacob studied Accounting, Business Finance and Management at The University of York and is currently pursuing his ACCA qualification. A keen lacrosse player and coach, Jacob enjoys staying active both on and off the field.

Maria Wrench