Johann Lourens

I live in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), South Africa.

I'm the founder and CEO of Agulhas Fund Solutions (opens in new tab), where we build software for investment operations.

Before Agulhas, I spent 10 years at Rezco Asset Management. I joined as a trade desk assistant in 2015 and moved into trading a couple of months later. I became head of dealing in 2017 and took on the role of COO in 2023.

Over time, my work extended beyond the dealing desk to settlement, custody, FX, performance fees, and compliance for asset managers in several countries. I loved the progression and the opportunity to understand how the business worked as a whole.

Along the way, I began building tools to automate work I'd been doing by hand. To build them, I had to understand the processes behind the work from end to end. I could see where those processes broke down, and where software could make that knowledge part of the work itself.

By then, I understood investment operations from the inside and saw the need for better tools. That experience led me to found Agulhas in 2024.

We work with multi-managers, trustees, CIS management companies, and discretionary fund managers. Our software brings fragmented data together and supports investment workflows alongside the systems a firm already uses. Feel free to reach out to discuss.