A successful career, a newborn baby, long workdays, and the demands of everyday life.
For Moonstone Business School of Excellence’s top achievers in the Higher Certificate in Wealth Management (HCert Wealth Management), academic success wasn’t about having more time than everyone else. It was about making time.
This year’s top achievers come from different corners of the financial services industry. Joint first place was awarded to Chene Wessels, Searle Govender and Nuria Inácio, with Farai Chiringa taking second place, and Tracy Konyana finishing third.
These are professionals who chose to invest in themselves long after their careers had already begun, recognising that in financial planning, learning never really stops.
The Higher Certificate in Wealth Management, offered at NQF Level 5, equips students with a broad understanding of financial planning, covering risk, investments, retirement planning, and taxation while meeting the Fit and Proper educational requirements for Category I Financial Service Providers. It also fulfils the educational requirement for the REGISTERED FINANCIAL PRACTITIONER® (RFP®) designation awarded by the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa.
Learning with purpose
None of these graduates entered the programme as newcomers to financial services. Instead, they saw it as an opportunity to deepen their knowledge, broaden their perspective, and prepare for the next stage of their careers.
For Govender, a specialist investment consultant at Optimate Financial Solutions, that realisation came after spending 13 years in international investment banking in Mauritius.
Returning to South Africa after the Covid-19 pandemic gave him a different perspective.
“I was concerned that the overwhelming majority of South Africans are not adequately prepared for retirement,” he says. “I decided to contribute to a profession that aims to educate, guide, and assist South Africans in planning for their financial future responsibly and effectively.”
Inácio’s career has taken her from banking to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, followed by a decade working in financial services in the United Kingdom before returning to South Africa and joining Fedgroup as investments operations manager.
Although she originally intended becoming either a writer or psychologist, she found herself increasingly drawn to financial planning because it combines both disciplines.
“It is a perfect blend of finance and psychology,” she says.
For Chiringa, a compliance administrator, it was a longstanding fascination with investments and financial markets that sparked his interest.
“I have always been fascinated by how money works, how wealth is created, and how informed financial decisions can completely change someone’s future.”
Konyana, manager of Corporate Advisory, Consulting and Management at Collaborate Holdings, shares a similar motivation.
“I wanted to help people make confident, informed decisions about their future,” she says. “Financial planning felt like the perfect path to combine purpose with progress.”
There was no secret formula
Ask four top achievers how they succeeded and none will tell you they simply studied harder than everyone else.
Instead, they speak about consistency, discipline, and making the most of the time they had.
For Chiringa, one of the biggest milestones came outside the classroom.
He became a father while completing the qualification.
“Every challenge became another reason to keep going,” he says, describing how he balanced full-time work, family responsibilities, and studying through late nights and weekends.
Konyana says she discovered that consistency mattered more than intensity.
“Small, steady progress each day made the qualification achievable.”
Her approach centred on focused study sessions, practice questions, and making sure she also rested so she could absorb what she had learned.
Inácio found success by breaking demanding subjects into manageable pieces.
“Tackling more demanding subject matter in 30-minute chunks, with a short explainer video in-between, helped keep me engaged,” she says.
Govender, meanwhile, focused less on memorising information than understanding the principles behind it. Practising past assessments helped him identify recurring themes, while MBSE’s online resources allowed him to deepen his understanding rather than simply prepare for examinations.
Seeing the bigger picture
If there was one lesson the programme reinforced, it was that financial planning is about far more than investments.
Each graduate described developing a broader understanding of clients, their goals, and the role advisers play in helping people to navigate life’s financial decisions.
Govender says he now looks beyond expected investment returns to consider a client’s broader financial position, objectives, and ability to absorb risk before making recommendations.
That broader perspective has already influenced his work with one of his corporate clients, helping develop an investment strategy focused on infrastructure projects in KwaZulu-Natal that combines acceptable returns with measurable community impact.
“Holding their hands along the journey has been extremely fulfilling,” he says.
For Inácio, the programme revealed the depth of planning that sits behind every financial recommendation.
“As an administrator, I don’t always see all the detail that went into a financial decision,” she says. “This course has given me greater insight into the financial planning process and a greater respect for the profession.”
Chiringa says the qualification strengthened his appreciation for compliance, ethics, and always putting the client’s interests first.
Rather than simply asking whether a process meets regulatory requirements, he now considers whether it promotes good client outcomes and supports long-term trust.
Konyana describes a similar shift.
Instead of focusing primarily on products and numbers, she now begins conversations by exploring clients’ long-term aspirations.
“My focus has shifted from product-centred advice to more client-centred advice.”
Putting knowledge to work
Being recognised as top achievers has done more than celebrate past success. It has sharpened each graduate’s ambitions for the future.
Govender is now considering pursuing either the Certified Financial Planner® or Chartered Financial Analyst designation. The qualification also means he can now come out of supervision, a milestone that marks an important step in his career.
Inácio is already working towards the Advanced Certificate in Financial Planning and hopes to use her growing knowledge to educate others about the importance of financial planning.
For Chiringa, the qualification has inspired an even bigger vision.
He hopes to establish a platform that promotes financial literacy, investment education, and practical financial planning, particularly for communities with limited access to financial education.
“I want to help young professionals, low-income households, and marginalised communities gain the knowledge and confidence to make informed financial decisions,” he says.
Konyana believes the qualification has strengthened her credibility as a financial professional while positioning her for future leadership opportunities.
More importantly, she says, it reinforced a lesson that extends well beyond the classroom.
“Perseverance and consistency matter more than perfection.”
Govender echoes that sentiment in his own way.
“Sometimes a shift in perspective is all one needs in order to effect change where it matters most.”
For more information about MBSE’s range of qualifications, visit www.mbse.ac.za or contact MBSE at help@mbse.ac.za.
Editor’s note: Chene Wessels, who shared first place in the Higher Certificate in Wealth Management, did not respond to our questions before publication.
