Insurance has often been described as a grudge purchase. So we thought when Miles Japhet - one of the founders of Hollard Insurance, who these days goes by the title of "insurance entrepreneur" - agreed to let us come see him, that perhaps it would be a grudge interview. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
Insurance is all about money, and is as funny as the passing of a family pet. Perhaps we had overestimated ourselves by attempting to bring jokes into an arena where assessors and actuaries define reality with a sharpened pencil.
How refreshing, then, to meet a warm, quirky and slightly guarded giant in a restored Herbert Baker masterpiece populated with magnificent local pop art.
It soon becomes evident why we are meeting in this treasure house: Miles is a man who strives to get things down to an art, whether it's helping to build a maverick new business, piloting a plane or shaping his life into a balanced and priceless labour of love. Much like the fantastic contrast between historical architecture and contemporary expression, he is a man who bridges the traditional with the free. He is the definition of funny money.
Where did the Hollard name come from?
It came from the name of a company that Dick Enthoven had, Hollard Acceptances. Hollard Street, the old home of the stock exchange, carried financial connotations. So it seemed like a good name. Patrick Enthoven, Dick's half-brother, started the firm in 1977. I was the appy (apprentice).
They wanted to start an onshore captive insurance company, which was a revolutionary concept: tell corporations they were buying too much insurance, get them to buy less risk cover and fund the rest through the good financial mechanisms that can be leveraged within the framework of an insurance licence.
How did it all begin?
I was Patrick's personal assistant and fresh out of the army. He was running an insurance broking firm that his father Robert had started, when he decided to set up Hollard. The industry was up in arms when the licence acquisition was approved. How could an insurance brokerage own a licence?
Six months later, Patrick, a secretary and I left to form the Hollard Insurance Company. Initially we just focused on short-term insurance. Now there is a life office that was started in 1992.
Is it something you loved?
Me? You land up in a place by accident. Few people are privileged to know what they really want to do in life. I studied at Bristol University, having got a bursary from a textile firm that went bust while I was in the army. I studied politics, philosophy and economics, and the only subject that has proved useful is statistics, which I barely scraped through.
It just goes to show how events shape your life. If the textile firm hadn't gone bust, I wouldn't have ended up in insurance.
David Dalling, a Progressive Party MP and great friend of the Enthovens, was a director at Robert Enthoven insurance brokers and knew me from the days when I canvassed for him at election time. He insisted I go for an interview with Patrick Enthoven, who offered me a job as his assistant. Twenty-eight years later, we're still in business together.
Enough about you already. This column is counted in words, not decades. What is the average life expectancy of an actuary?
Ask an actuary - they will give you the most optimistic answer ever. Generally they have the old CYA (cover your arse) mentality.
Tell us about insurance.
Insurance is a grudge purchase because it's intangible. Imagine selling something to someone that they hope they'll never have to use!
I love being involved with what insurance entails. Because we sell a promise, we are involved with building trust and relationships, and that is always a challenge and always fun. It's a challenge because people are changing and growing. In Latvia they also do that, so it's a worldwide business.
Are you a good listener?
Sometimes. I quite like the sound of my own voice, but I am conscious of that. At least I can answer back.
How do you measure success?
There are many dimensions. One is clearly financial, because that gives you choices.
Engendering confidence in others is another. Fun is a necessary ingredient of success.
Do you feel successful?
I feel happy. Success is a moving target.
Do you love closing a sale?
I love it - that's actually it. I am basically an insurance salesman. I love forging those new relationships.
Did you take any big risks in your career?
Plenty - I just didn't know I was taking them. That is the beauty of youth and naiveté. Risk taking, I think, is a function of age.
But the more you know, the fewer risks you take. And that can be a dangerous thing. This is why I think the best chief executives are in their early 30s. Then they need to be out of there 10 years later, reinventing themselves.
Are you a family man?
My family is the centre of my life.
Are comedy and laughter something you embrace at work?
Hugely. It's so much a part of people not taking themselves too seriously. You can enjoy yourself and still be serious about what you do.
This comes from self-confidence, in a person, in an organisation. One can be effective without being boring about it.
Do self-help books work?
I'm a total non-believer in business books. A large number of them try to make a science out of an art.
How many hours a night do you sleep?
Six to seven.
What are you currently doing?
I am chairman of a 15-year-old specialist insurance firm, the Lombard Insurance Company, which my family has a significant interest in. I am chairman of Hollard Seguros in Mozambique. I'm on the board of a European insurance firm and look after a team of guys sitting in London.
Outside of insurance, I am the chairman of Uplands College in White River and also of the Jock of Bushveld animation project.
Why did you move from the city to the lowveld?
Emotionally, after 14 years as managing director, Hollard was my business. So when I stepped down - having all but burnt out - my wife and I decided to move to the bush.
For two years we lived on a game farm. We learnt to fly and we commuted. Then we moved to just outside Nelspruit. It is the best place in South Africa to live.
Are you part of the Miles High Club?
Did you say "Miles"? I am now miles from nowhere. Me and Cat Stevens.
How much money does it take to be rich?
The answer is: enough. Rich is relative - or, try and have rich relatives.
Do you know how much a loaf of bread costs?
A lot, depending on the size of your pocket.
Has silicon really changed the way business works?
Depends on which valley you are looking at. But not to say we have a chip on our shoulders.
We notice you have a shredder in the corner. Do you use it much?
No, but my assistant probably does, when she is here, as she is based in Richards Bay.
Actually, she also looks after Patrick who lives in Santa Barbara, and we all meet occasionally in Johannesburg. It works perfectly.
- Ronnie Apteker is a cereal-eating entrepreneur who prefers to sit down and tell jokes rather than do stand-up comedy.
- John Vlismas is the country's leading comedian, which doesn't say much because he feels the government is much funnier than Jerry Seinfeld