nel incorporated is:
founder and Principal
Martin Nel
I was born in South Africa and was fortunate to go to Paul Roos Gymnasium, one of the top academic and sports schools in the county. I like to reflect on the fact that even if I played rugby for the second team, some of my teammates went on to play for the Springboks. At the age of seventeen I joined the South African Defence Force and served as an Intelligence Officer. I quickly learned about the importance of teamwork, discipline, adaptability and resilience in the face of hardship. I enjoyed the physical challenges and went on to run ultra marathons (highlight was a third position in the Three Peaks ultra marathon), climb mountains (highest was 22,000 feet in South America), and trek across many wild parts of the world - including South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Iceland, Bolivia and Scotland.
I studied Business and Accounting at the University of Stellenbosch, and started my career with PricewaterhouseCoopers, working as a Chartered Accountant in Cape Town, London and Amsterdam – and gaining experience in Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions, Valuations and International Tax.
I won a Rhodes Scholarship and after my time in Amsterdam went on to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) at the University of Oxford.
In 2001 I joined McKinsey & Co in Toronto. After spending a year in remote gold mines around the world, I transferred to the Paris office in 2002 and learned French while working for steel mills in small towns across France. I went on to work for the firm for another six years in Paris – spending the last years serving large banks in France and across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa as an Associate Principal.
After a brief stint in Israel as an independent consultant, I joined BMO Financial Group in September 2008 in Toronto as VP Retail Financing Products. In the next ten years I ran almost all the major product groups within Retail Banking in Canada and spent the last three years as SVP and Head of Retail Banking, accountable for a $5 billion+ revenue stream. I also served as the chair of the board of MCAP Mortgage Corporation, a director of BMO’s three major CDIC entities, a member of the Advisory Board of First Canadian Title, a member of the CMHC Lender Working Committee and the CMHC Senior Lender Working Committee and as chair of the Operations Committee of the Canadian Bankers Association.
Over the last thirty years, I have worked in many industries and functions and called myself, among other things, an Intelligence Officer, an International Tax Consultant, a Philosopher of Logic, the Co-owner of a Parisian Prêt-à-porter chain of Boutiques, a Published Author, a Lean Manufacturing Expert, and a Retail Banking Executive. My interests range from Economics to Literature to Buddhism.
In my current endeavour I focus my broad range of skills, experience and understanding of the world on a narrow area of expertise – Retail Banking – to ensure deep impactful insights for my clients.