LISETTE LOMBARD

Lisette Lombard is a financial journalist and communications professional with substantial international and national experience. With a background in journalism and communications management for corporates and agencies, Lisette brings a deep understanding of complex business environments to her work. She is an expert business writer with a light touch and the ability to simplify complicated concepts. Her skill set spans the full spectrum of an integrated marketing communications approach, including internal and external communications, social media strategy and implementation, reputation management, and client and stakeholder communication.

Since November 2016, Lisette has run an independent communications consultancy, Firefly, building brands for South African and British businesses in South Africa, into Africa, and beyond. Lisette writes weekly investment reports for the Financial Times' MandateWire for global investors as the Africa and Middle-East reporter. ‘MandateWire provides money managers with reliable and high-value investment intelligence on RFPs, planned allocations and institutional asset flows in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Its core focus is pension fund information, but it also tracks charities, insurance companies, endowment funds and family offices.’

She has written various financial and business articles for numerous media publications and generates content for financial services companies in South Africa and abroad for global companies.

Firefly clients included Just Retirement, The Old Mutual Investment Group, Old Mutual Wealth and Investec Structured Products in association with Shareable Communications. She has written articles for The Sunday Times, Business Live and The Sowetan, and for Independent Newspapers’ Personal Finance magazine. She has written several cover stories for the Accountancy SA magazine, and writes a running blog for Gettothestart.com. She is currently travel blogging for Capetowngetaways.com.

Prior to founding Firefly, Lisette spent a decade working for Old Mutual, working her way up from media consultancy to communications manager, specialising in personal finance, Old Mutual Investment Group Asset Managers (Including Old Mutual Properties) and Old Mutual Wealth. She managed critical aspects of the company’s reputation in the local media and abroad, particularly in other areas of Africa and the UK.

Lisette has extensive wine and property portfolio experience. She worked with Michael Fridjhon on the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show for almost ten years, and managed crisis communications for Old Mutual Properties.

During her time working in PR, Lisette has represented Warwick Wines, Brandhouse Reserve beverages, Pam Golding Leisure, Stonebridge Fractional Ownership with Stefan Anthoni, Lombardy Estates, and the Upper Deck Plettenberg Bay Property in the media. She has worked on social corporate responsibility initiatives such as Township Patterns and the Old Mutual Foundation.

Lisette holds two postgraduate diplomats from the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town (UCT), in Social Media and in the Business of Wine. She has a B. Com degree in Communications Management and a postgraduate diploma in Financial Planning from the University of Stellenbosch. Over the past 18 years she gained extensive experience working with a range of international organisations, including the Financial Times in London.

Lisette is passionate about financial empowerment, poverty alleviation and social upliftment, education, conservation and a good bottle of South African wine. In her spare time, you will find her exploring wine farms, sampling Cape Town’s top restaurants, or satisfying her taste for adventure while trail running in Newlands Forest and the winelands.