NFB wins ‘financial Oscar’
EL firm pips ‘big boys’ to top award
ABILLION rand of invested East London and hinterland money was managed so well that the fund won a 2017 Raging Bull Award.
This is akin to a South African Oscar in the financial world, said Travis McClure, executive director at NFB Private Wealth Management.
Their Ci Cautious Fund of Funds recently achieved the highest PlexCrown rating and rank of all the funds in the high-equity, medium-equity and low-equity sub-categories on a risk-adjusted basis.
There are at least 400 contenders in this category, said McClure and his East Londonbased managing director, Gavin Ramsay, on Friday.
The beauty of the award, said Ramsay, was that even though Ci Cautious Fund of Funds is ranked fourth nationally, the judges rewarded the fund for its consistency over five years.
Using these measures, the fund was the best SA multiasset equity fund.
Despite the volatility of this period, the risk-adjusted fund delivered to its 1 600 investors returns which achieved its benchmark of inflation and then made a 3% real return, said Ramsay.
“The fund is suited for lower risk investors,” he said.
The fund grew 9.97% annually over the five years, he said.
Ramsay said: “We have two rules. One: don’t lose clients’ money, and two, returns must beat inflation plus three (percent) over a rolling three-year period.”
He and McClure said the awards were established to honour funds and fund managers for consistently earning outstanding returns.
The award went to NFB Asset Management, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the NFB group of companies.
NFB Private Wealth manages assets in excess of R20-billion for 5 000 clients, they said.
The firm, which was established in 1985 and has its head office in Beach Road, Nahoon, also garnered a certificate for top performance for a South African multi-asset low equity fund on a risk-adjusted basis.
McClure said: “This is a great coup for a local company to receive such an award.
“It competes with all the ‘big boys’ in the industry such as the likes of Allan Gray, Coronation and Investec.”
Ramsay has been instrumental in setting up and driving the investment committee that was responsible for the good returns and the award.
The men sketched NFB’s route from a small company in Port Elizabeth to East London to become a JSE-listed stockbroking firm, NVest Securities, with operations in equity (shares), securities, property, and even insurance and a medical aid division.
The winning strategy, said Ramsay, was to champion clients and tailor-make investments which were then handed over to NFB’s asset managers to run.
He said the Ci fund had a maximum equity exposure of 40% and a property exposure ceiling of 25%.
It may invest up to 25% outside of SA plus an additional 5% in Africa excluding SA.
It had to comply with the regulation governing retirement funds.
“The fund was the best bank for our clients’ money.
“There was volatility but our ride was smoothest and the return was the best,” they said.
“This is huge for us. It justifies the effort we put in as advisers who place clients’ money in funds.”
Ramsay said: “We use index trackers instead of active managers who charge high fees.
“Good ones like old Selbornian Allan Gray deserve their pay. Others charge money to destroy money.”
NFB uses index trackers which are passive, cost-effective instruments and are all the rage globally, especially in the USA.
“Instead of paying on average 1% we pay closer to 0.1%, within the fund,” said Ramsay.
Ramsay, a masters swimmer who trains at a municipal pool and who serves in a voluntary capacity as the treasurer of the successful Hamiltons Sports Club, said: “We are East London people. Once we are in (committed), we are in.
“We are a lot of 40-year-olds in our staff of 110 who have been in the business for a number of years.
“That, and consistency, is our story.” —