FUND MANAGERS

Fund and the Renewable Energy Debt Fund. It also has an established presence in absolute return and low tracking error equity funds.

Fatima Vawda, head of 27Four, says there is a shortage of fixed income skills in these firms, and fixed interest makes up barely 2% of AUM. Prowess run by Kelebogile Moloko, formerly of Futuregrowth, stands out as a bond specialist.

Cash itself makes up almost 25%, but it is managed by just a handful of black managers. Taquanta has the dominant share, and Argon, JM Busha, Lion of Africa and Prowess also have cash mandates.

Vawda is concerned that black managers have so little presence in theunit trust market — even Kagiso with its outstanding track record remains largely unnoticed. In fact, black firms run less than 1,5% of unit trust assets in SA.

The equity powerhouses, mostly relying on money from the PIC and parastatals, have been the most successful BEE firms. They include Kagiso, Afena and Argon. More recently two women with a track record in the industry have set up shops. Mashuda Cassim (ex RMB) has started Cachalia Capital, while Delphine Govender (ex Allan Gray) launched Perpetua Investment Managers.

Govender says she could have carried on with Allan Gray in the same position for the rest of her career or started her own business. Husband Logan is in the kitchen minding operations. “I don’t think that being black-owned will be my main differentiator in the market. But I certainly want to prove that diversity and meritocracy can co-exist,” she says.

Govender says her first client is offering a pure equity mandate, but she plans to offer balanced business. “At Allan Gray all the equity managers were also responsible for their own asset allocation decisions, and I plan to hire a specialist fixed interest manager in the near future.”

Cassim initially hooked up with Capricorn Capital, a racy hedge fund crowd. But after differences of opinion on business ethics she switched horses to Old Mutual, which is a shareholder and will also offer logistical support.

“Cachalia will not be an Omigsa boutique, it is simply an arm’s-length business arrangement,” says Cassim.

Another new manager is Buyambo Fund Managers, run by Wilfred Tshuma. As always, there is an element of old wine in new bottles as the head of research is none other than Liston Meintjies, who has been the paleface at a number of BEE shops before, such as Trilinear, Metropolitan and Lion of Africa.

There has been proof of a profitable niche for specialist property portfolios, the province of Sesfikile and Meago, which between them have about R8bn