Johan du Preez, Impact Investor, on Blending Giving and Investments to Tackle Poverty (Ep. 146)

Johan du Preez is a seasoned South African entrepreneur and investor, and the Founder of SAAD Investment Holdings and the Tree of Life Foundation. Johan began his career path as a pharmacist in his early twenties and spent many years managing pharmacies that needed major turnaround. He then became the CEO of a large healthcare organization before the Spirit led him to start his investment company with a focus on impacting the Kingdom of God.  

Johan brings a unique perspective as a faith-driven leader who channels private equity investment returns into longterm, sustainable generosity through an investment firm contained within a charitable foundation. From leading major corporate turnarounds to pioneering innovative giving platforms in South Africa, Johan’s life and work exemplify the intersection of strategic investing and radical generosity.  

Major topics include:

• Johan’s early life and faith background
• How becoming a pharmacist laid the foundations for what he does today
• Integrating faith into business and money management
• Strategically operating from the spirit realm in money and business
• Realizing that money can help build God’s kingdom
• The story of SAAD and the Tree of Life Foundation
• What it looks like to let God own your business
• Transitioning from health care insurance to financial services 
• The difference between working with God and letting God work through you
• Taking risks in Kingdom business
• Depending on God when you don’t know what you’re doing
• Investments that make an impact through business
• Weighing “return first” and “impact first” investing
• Using charitable capital through a donor advised fund
• The beauty of collective giving
• Thinking through investing versus giving
• How to leverage all that you have to be a part of what God’s doing

QUOTES TO REMEMBER

• “There’s only one way to be strategic, that is to operate in the spiritual realm. Otherwise, you are just reactive and tactical.”
• “The eternal perspective is ultimately the one that saves you.”
• “For God to work through you, you have to be dead.”
• “When you involve God in your business and make it His business and say, ‘I’m just here to work for You,’ then you actually complicate it to a large extent because you had better make sure that you know what the Shareholder wants.”
• “God is more interested in the character of the individuals that are involved in the company than about the results at the end of the day.”
• “We are called to take risks for the Kingdom.”
• “The best decisions I’ve ever made were based on what I did not know.”
• “Collaboration is everyone exchanging their personal dreams for one larger dream.”

LINKS FROM THE SHOW

• SAAD Investment Holdings
• Tree of Life Foundation
• National Christian Foundation (see our interview with President Emeritus, David Wills)
• Trustbridge Global (see our interview with Executive VP, Paul Bolte here)
• The Finish Line Community Facebook Group
• The Finish Line Community LinkedIn Group

 

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