Africa: Past, Present and Future
Africa: Past, Present and Future
Africa: Past, Present and Future
May 1999 to November 2015
Chief Investment Officer (CIO)
Investment Solutions (IS) was the largest, multi-manager company in South Africa, having begun operations in September 2007. The company invested assets on behalf of both retail clients and institutional funds, into a range of multi-manager products.
Total assets under stewardship, management and administration, comfortably exceeded R300bn (c. $20bn) at the time of my departure. The company was always either fully or partially owned by Alexander Forbes (AF), South Africa’s leading pension fund and risk consulting business. IS was itself separately listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) until November 2002, then de-listed to facilitate an empowerment transaction. AF was similarly de-listed in 2008 in a private equity transaction, and then re-listed in July 2014, with Mercers then acquiring a 34% strategic stake in the group.
I was the CIO of IS for the full period of my employ there, and one of the longest-serving CIOs in South Africa (SA), responsible for a team of some twenty, based in both SA and the UK.
I had overall responsibility for all aspects of the investment philosophy, process and teams, both in SA and in the UK, along with the final investment outcome. I sat on, or chaired various committees, as detailed. I travelled extensively, formally meeting hundreds of asset managers, in all the major global asset classes, in many parts of the globe.
I had active involvement in calls on all major asset classes and capital markets, along with all other investment aspects, including sustainability and responsible investing.
I was a key presenter at many of the IS annual client and AF roadshows and other investment related presentations, as well as ongoing direct media and social media support, including radio, TV, and Twitter. Videos . I also presented to large new prospective business prospects, as well as in defence of larger clients.
I presented at various conferences, and panels, including at the annual CFA conference in Singapore in 2013 (‘Sustainability – An Investment perspective’). I had a related paper published that year in the CFA journal (‘It’s time to rethink growth and the implications for sustainable investing’). Articles.
I co-authored the book HalfWay There, focused on the BRICS, with a specific focus and reference to the lessons for SA.
Key roles and committees.
March 1995 to April 1999
Senior portfolio manager and head of the consumer research team
I managed pension, provident and unit trust (mutual fund) assets on behalf of the Firstrand Group, previously Momentum Life, and external third party clients. RMBAM was one of the five largest asset managers in South Africa at the time. The focus was on top-down asset allocation, along with rigorous fundamental bottom-up analysis of companies.
Along with my research and portfolio management responsibilities, in July 1998, I launched and co-managed the RMB consumer unit trust. By April 1998, when I left RMBAM , the fund had grown five-fold in size, and was the best performing unit trust, out of approximately 150 in South Africa, to the period then ended.
October 1992 to March 1995
Senior Manager – Investments
Asset management company, with investments primarily on behalf of the Liberty Life group and external, third party funds. LIBAM One of the five largest asset managers in South Africa at the time. My work revolved primarily around equity research, primarily of the local South African consumer sector.