Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa June 2018 | Page 12

MASTER INVESTOR
How did you first become
involved in property? 
I was first exposed to property during
my auditing days and then again when
I was in investment banking. I fell in
love with it and wanted more. That led
to the formation of Mergence, more
than 14 years ago.
What do you think makes a
great property investment?
Property, like most investments, is all
about capital gains and yield/income.
One needs to pick properties with
growth potential, in the right loca-
tions. My best property investment
principles would be to buy well, man-
age brilliantly,and have an exit plan.
What is your vision for Dip-
ula into the future?
Dipula has done excellently for its in-
vestors, and we’ve been very consistent
in delivering growth while improving
our portfolio. Our aim is to continue
to focus on South Africa, grow sen-
sibly and prudently. Our portfolio is
currently worth about R8.5 billion
and our market cap is around R5 bil-
lion. We want to double our market
cap in the next 3 years, so that we pro-
vide our investors with much needed
liquidity in our shares.
Q: What other opportunities
do you foresee in the future
of the South African proper-
ty industry? 
Good performance of property is
dependent on a robust and growing
economy. I foresee a difficult short to
medium term, but do believe that the
challenging environment will be em-
bedded with abundant opportunities
for those that think outside the box.
We intend to take advantage of the
challenge.
Petersen is a firm believer in hard
work and putting the hours into what
you want to achieve. Offering insights
to aspiring investors, he explains:
“What you put in is what you get out.
Pair your smartness with hard work
and the right ethics and things will
come together.”
His own career highlights have been
varied, from starting out and quali-
fying as a CA, to starting his career
in investment banking and eventually
starting his ownbusiness and listing a
property fund. Despite this - and that
property fund’s stellarperformance -
Petersen says that he doesn’t consider
himself a success just yet: “That’s still
a work in progress.”
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Highlights from Dipula Income Fund’s results for the six months ending
28 February 2018
JUNE/JULY 2018 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine