Dear Team Spirit,

Great companies are built by people who never stop thinking about ways to improve the business. J. Willard Marriot’s famous quote certainly holds true for the Spirit Group. If I were to capture the essence of our Group, what makes us unique is our blend of dedication, innovation and service excellence in everything we do. Each member of the Spirit team has a vital role to play in the success of our business and each of you is valued for what you deliver to the Group. So let me commence by thanking you all for your achievements in Q2.

It's been an interesting and challenging global and local environment for markets and the economy, but a highly successful one for our Group of companies.

The key driver in our Group is the continuous significant growth in assets under management. This is achieved principally by successfully onboarding more professional network partners who entrust us with the wealth management of their clients. Warwick offers the best deal in the financial services industry and it is rewarding to see Marc, Deon and the Take On team continually harvesting the rewards of this unique proposition.

But the deal only works if it delivers what it promises. This means that two things have to happen. Firstly, Warwick has to provide our professional network partners with exactly what we promised and we do. In this regard, I want to congratulate everyone involved in this detailed process from take on, to the wealth specialist teams across the country right through to finance who ensure our partners are paid timeously without fail. Secondly, the real test of the success of the Warwick offering is how we onboard clients and manage their private wealth. This means providing clients with the levels of service, care and attention that they have never experienced before. This is the Warwick way and what we are renowned for. So, well done to all the Warick teams across the country for delivering the best service in the industry.

Providing quality assurance across the entire company is our Director of Client Care, Cobus van Schalkwyk, and I wish to thank him for his outstanding professionalism.

Orion Wealth Managers provided holistic wealth management for life and at both ends of this cycle is Appleton who craft and draft bespoke Wills to meet the exacting needs of our clients, but also deliver what is renowned to be the best estate administration service in the country. So, to Lauren and her team, well done on your Q2 performance.

While service is vital, it is not enough of course. We need to provide our clients with a superb range of asset management offerings. In this regard, I am pleased to report that Adrian and the Orion Investment Managers team has delivered some superb performance for our clients in Q2 and it is rewarding to see the ever-expanding range of asset management offerings in OIM delivering exactly what we require from our team.

With growth comes complexity. This means that our administration and systems have to be robust and fit for purpose to meet and exceed our growth targets. I am pleased to say that we have in our Group a tremendous team of administrators and systems staff who continue to deliver each quarter, so thank you unsung heroes.

Director of Operations, Ryan Magee, runs a very tight and busy ship and delivers superb quality across the entire Group. I am particularly pleased to see how well the ‘Quickly Sign’ document innovation has been implemented across the country. I know Ryan has further great innovations in the planning and we look forward to reaping their benefits. I am particularly keen to see the rollout of the new Warwick App in Q3.

Ensuring total financial peace of mind amidst all this growth is our Chief Financial Officer Tiaan and his great team. I wish to extend my personal thanks to you for keeping a very steady and efficient hand on the financial tiller, but doing so in a way that is always a pleasure to deal with.

Finally, on the business review, anyone involved with the Spirit Group will have been impressed by the remarkable innovations produced by the Group Marketing Department in Q2. Well done Wendy, Athena and team. Not only has marketing innovated, but it has enhanced the quality of our websites, publications and social media platforms across the board. Considerable investment has been made and continues to be made in the marketing department so please use this resource for your own marketing to clients, professional network partners, prospects and indeed your own connections on platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook.

It's also been a memorable quarter for the Spirit Foundation who will report fully on H1 on the forthcoming Full Circle publication next month. But I just want to congratulate the entire team on their achievements in education and in particular our Early Childhood Development Centres, community (big shout out to Steve Palframan) and of course our wildlife programmes (and look out for some of our new programmes in the Full Circle).

The Spirit Foundation has also achieved something none of us ever thought possible, a soccer team we can all support! The Spirit International Football Academy (SIFA) has already produced victories and performances that the English Premiership would be proud of. Congratulations to the SIFA team and I would urge you to get fully behind this great programme by supporting the teams and following on all social media platforms.

Until next quarter, remember, nothing but the best is good enough!