Investec Australia's chief executive Milton Samios says he is committed to the firm's corporate advisory operations, labelling them an "essential ingredient" in the local business, despite a string of staff changes and departures in the past three years. 
Investec's local operations have changed markedly following the sale of its professional loan book to Bank of Queensland in 2014. It has a slimmed down business including corporate advisory, aviation finance, property, resource and infrastructure finance, and acquisition financing.
On the merger and acquisitions advisory side, changes have been immense. Christian Nicks, the former head of the advisory business, left last year while more recently departures have included banker Colin Young, executive director Hiro Shimada, director Henry Foster, and a number of junior staff.
Mr Samios said, however, Investec saw the advisory business as an important part of its Australian operations and he intended to recruit to rebuild numbers.
"Advisory brings it all together," he told Fairfax Media. Investec focuses on middle market deals and emerging companies but typically those that are capitalised at $100 million to $1 billion.
The firm has about 15 bankers and Mr Samios believes the "right size" for the Australian operations is as many as 20.
Earlier this year Investec hired Aquasia's Malcolm Ezzy as a managing director in its investment banking unit.
While lending has been a "big driver" of Investec's business in the past 18 months, Mr Samios also wants to ramp up in the other areas in which they operate.
"Ideally, I'd like to see all aspects of the business firing," he added, noting that the refresh of federal cabinet bode well for business confidence. Investec helped finance the Findex-KKR & Co acquisition of Crowe Horwath last year.
Mr Samios is also upbeat on prospects for the Johannesburg-listed Investec Australia Property Fund, noting "a lot of appetite" for local assets. The fund will eventually be dual listed.
But results for Investec Holdings Australia are yet to prove overly flattering, with the entity reporting a narrower loss of $24.8 million in the 12 months ended   March 31, as it booked restructuring charges and an impairment to goodwill on the acquisition of Wentworth Associates. That compared to a loss of $70.1 million in the year ended   March 31, 2014. Excluding the impairment, restructuring costs and non-operating income the firm this year reported a $6.8 million profit.
Mr Samios said following the balance sheet clean-up he was targeting annual profits of more than $10 million. He identified aviation finance as a growth area. Investec provides aviation finance including through aircraft equity and debt managed funds with more than $2 billion assets under management.
The company is also partnering with H2 Ventures, a fintech venture capital fund, to invest in 100 start-ups over the next three years.
Separately, Investec has unveiled a sponsorship deal with the Australian Rhino Project, for a breeding herd of rhinoceros to be established in Australia. The plan is to import 80 rhinos from South Africa over four years, as part of a plan to ward against poachers and the threat of extinction.
Key pointsInvestec focuses on middle market deals and emerging companies.
Its results are yet to prove overly flattering.