Agricultural manager

Gabby Tjiroze
Frederico Van Wyk

“As the agricultural manager, you are responsible to grow and manage the agricultural loan book, investments and client base. You have to have a deep understanding of the agricultural industry, knowledge of agriculture as a trade to better understand, assist and advise a client,” says Frederico Van Wyk, an agricultural manager at First National Bank.

“Each agricultural manager is assigned to a specific geographical area and it is important to keep abreast with all industry factors that have an influence on profitability or what we refer to as risk,” he said. On a daily basis, agricultural managers receive business proposals or requests from clients considering financing for agricultural purposes.

Van Wyk decided to venture into this field, because of his love for both agriculture and finance. “There is no other agriculture job where you are able to combine both the love for agriculture with that of finance.”

In 2003, Van Wyk completed his national diploma in agriculture. “After spending some years at Agra, they awarded me with a bursary to complete a bachelor of commerce in Economics at the University of Pretoria. After my studies I worked at a local financial institution. My tenure in the investment group exposed me to alternative investment portfolio in unlisted investments which became an interest for me.”

“The combination from studying agriculture and finance has put me in a position to structure a financial product suitable for each client’s specific need.”