Dr. Dan Leads $139 Billion Fund in Weak South Africa Economy

Dan Matjila has a tall order as the new head of the $139 billion Public Investment Corp.: raise South African state-worker pensions, kick-start flagging economic growth, revive investor confidence, and heed government demands.

In a career ranging from math professor to the Pretoria-based PIC’s chief investment officer, Matjila, 52, has won his peers’ respect as someone who can handle the pressure of the big-time and reduce the state-owned company’s multifarious challenges into simple ideas.