My responsibilities as a Consultant in the Property Solutions division at Grindrod Bank include the following:• Sourcing new clients and ensuring the maintenance and steady growth of the existing loan book;• Performing due diligence on transactions - including desktop valuations of properties, financial analysis of transactions, the drawing up of amortization schedules, and motivations - for presentation to the Bank’s credit committee;• Liaising with the relevant departments to support the deal-making process and maintenance of the transaction with the Bank;• Providing the client with the necessary information and assistance to support transactions with the Bank and respond to all client queries;• Admin including proposals to credit, raising fee invoices, monitoring expiring facilities and following up with all aspects required to conclude a transaction.• As we are building an equity fund that will invest primarily as a minority shareholder in deals, I have the added responsibility of sourcing possible equity participations on behalf of the Grindrod Private Property Equity Fund

My Role as an Assistant in the Property Solutions division largely involved learning the credit policy of the Bank and how the Bank, and Property Solutions as a division in particular, operates. It included learning which transactions the Bank is comfortable with funding and which transactions to decline. As Grindrod Bank is a niche financier specializing in mezzanine finance, the structuring of most of our transactions is quite unique in its security, serviceability, and pricing. In my first year I came to grips with the requirements needed to get a facility approved by the credit committee. Once I had demonstrated the skills necessary to run with a transaction independently, I graduated to the title of Consultant.