Victor Vaz

Victor was born in Mozambique in 1951 and educated in South Africa at the Marist Brothers school in Observatory, where he matriculated in 1968.

He commenced his professional life initially pursuing studies in Civil Engineering at the University of Witwatersrand and then for a year at the University of Natal. However he found his real interest in the Marine Insurance Industry after joining Stangen in 1973. Hence commenced a career in the industry that has spanned some 35 years.

Following a brief period at Stangen he joined the Price Forbes Group, where he enjoyed a long and successful career. This time culminated in the next obvious progression to establishing, in partnership with several other professionals, a partnership-owned independent consultancy and professional Services Company, in the form of Eikos.

During his career to date he has been responsible for growing a company, of which he was the Managing Director for 6 years, by 500 percent in profits and increasing the staff complement by 110 percent.

He has shown particular skills in redefining approaches to particular challenges within the Marine/ Transportation industry. This ability is manifested in his experience, observation and analytical skills that enable him significantly reduce costs to clients by identifying inefficiencies and cost duplications in their processes. The value of innovations of this sort has been recognised by the legal (marine), insurance and freight industry fraternities.

He then realised that further reductions in cost could be achieved if the processing function were to be separated from the design aspect of client service. He has revolutionised administrative mechanisms around centralised process management and decentralised client relationships.

In conjunction with a major motor manufacturer he was the recipient of a National Productivity Award for the cost effectiveness of his transportation risk management techniques. The company in question yielded record savings as a direct result of introducing innovations managed by a committee of professionals, convened by Victor. A number of other major players in the industry have adopted company specific solutions through this approach with significant positive impacts on their profit margins.

By virtue of keeping ahead of market trends he is at the cutting edge of developments within his field. As a creative consultant he is able to create uniquely tailored products in a highly competitive market.

He is a professional and enthusiastic speaker due to his knowledge of theory and practice in the Transportation sector. His strengths lie in his ability to analyse the history of the traditional approach to cargo risks, and identify the inherent inefficiencies and misconceptions that prevail, whilst predicting future market demands for efficient trade solutions.