Seminar with Mr Alf McKnight, CEO of Beyond Connection, 13 May 2010

Mr Alf McKnight, Founder & CEO of Beyond Connection, is a speaker in the Regenesys Leadership Exchange Seminar Series.

Mr McKnight spent 26 years in the financial services industry, the first 17 with Alexander Forbes where he was part of the team that revolutionised the retirement funds industry. He founded QLT Portfolio Solutions, a company that designs, implements and monitors investment strategies for institutional clients, which was sold to the Vunani Group when he followed his passion to enter the leadership industry, founding Beyond Connection in February 2008.

He was responsible for the first trustees training programmes that were conducted in South Africa, where the trustees were coached in the sophisticated financial concepts inherent in the investment of retirement fund assets, legal structures and the dispersal of death benefits. He designed the Trustees’ training programmes for the retirement funds market in South Africa and has run training workshops for many clients including the Financial Services Board in South Africa.

He has published papers in various journals including the international Pensions World Journal. He has spoken at a number of international conferences.

He was also involved in running the first boards of trustees that were jointly comprised of company and members representatives, this concept eventually became the benchmark for the industry.

He founded QLT Portfolio Solutions, a company that designs, implements and monitors investment strategies for institutional clients that was sold to the Vunani Group when he followed his passion to enter the leadership industry and founded Beyond Connection in February 2008.

An entrepreneur by heart, he is passionate about improving service levels and assisting individuals and organisations to achieve their full potential. He has developed a strong relationship with global leadership icon Robin Sharma and are bringing the philosophy of Leading Without a Title to organisations in South Africa.

His previous experience, knowledge and training stands him in good stead to implement the culture of Embracing leadership that requires the stakeholders of organisations to work together in harmony towards a common goal.

Alf’s qualifications include:

• CFP (University of the Orange Free State)
• Professional Fellow of the Financial Planning Institute
• Dip IR (SA) (Labour Law) (Damelin College)

He is married to Lesley and they have a 14 year-old daughter, Courtney.

The Regenesys Leadership Exchange is a conversation between leaders in civil society and individuals seeking to learn about leadership. Seminars focus on catalysing conversation between top business and governmental leaders, interested members of the public and academic communities.

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