Hennie Bezuidenhoudt is the Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Benchmark Group, possessing more than 22 years of experience in real estate. Operating from Centurion, South Africa, Hennie has served as managing director, director, non-executive director and chairman in a number of companies in South Africa and abroad since 1988. He has 35 years’ experience in business leadership and a track record of success based on honesty and integrity.
His ability to articulate systemic problems at the national level has led him to play a pivotal role in the restructuring of the health insurance industry in South Africa, where he was instrumental in developing risk management and cost containment measures for over 20 years.
Hennie began his career as a national executive officer of the South African Agricultural Union, responsible for managing and planning the activities of various agricultural commodity organizations in the country in 1983. Following this experience, in 1985, he entered the financial services space with a focus on applying an innovative risk management approach to the health insurance industry, as well as developing other cost-containing clinical management initiatives. This evolved into a fully-fledged managed healthcare organization servicing millions of beneficiaries of health insurers.
While advancing his career in healthcare, in 1993, Hennie invested in his first healthcare facility and took over its management, eventually overseeing its substantial growth. Recognizing the real estate investment and development opportunities supported by an increasingly interconnected world, he began investing in global real estate assets more than a decade ago. He co-founded the establishment of a premier global real estate investment group and later OrbVest. OrbVest has a recognized international real estate’s advantage in diversifying risk and preserving capital in its and other investors’ portfolios with the mission to put global real estate assets within reach for investors around the globe.
In addition to his professional endeavors, Hennie is proud to be an active member of his community, with a particular interest in supporting education. He is a founding member of Centurion Academy, which has developed integrated education models to create centers of excellence, and is also the chairman of several school boards. He remains active in the healthcare sector, and serves as the chairman of Varori International (Pty) Ltd and was a founding member of the Health Management Association of Southern Africa.
