Sygnia should pay attention to investor concerns
UNTIL the end of last year South Africa was rocked by almost daily revelations of corruption, state capture and corporate malfeasance. The extent of the robbery was breathtaking, and the truth of it is still unfolding.
Corporate governance, and the ethics associated with it, have slowly but steadily, with each environmental, social and governance disaster, become an increasingly important yardstick among asset and investment managers when they choose where and when to invest their clients’ funds, and with whom.
Asset management and investment firms, locally and abroad, have, in their turn, done a great deal to improve their levels of governance, and transparency.
Last month, Nedgroup Investments released some research it did from interactions with its investment fund and asset management partners globally and in South Africa, which showed that ESG (environment, social and governance) was at the forefront of issues of change being addressed among these managers in Europe, with South Africa unfortunately looking like it was becoming a “laggard” in this regard.
In this context, one needs to question whether it is appropriate for one of these companies, when faced with some serious matters that clearly question the ethics of the firm, to simply opt not to comment?
Sygnia, which has well-known Magda Wierzycka as chief executive, did this to Business Report last week, when we asked the firm a range of questions relating to the establishment of seemingly high risk offshore investment vehicles in the UK, the funnelling of local life insurance investments into those funds, the seemingly high fees being charged in the UK funds, and other potential conflicts of interests in the management of the funds, locally and in the UK vehicles.
Business Report was reflecting the concerns expressed by an investor, who had chosen to speak to Business Report on condition of anonymity, which is not a rare event, and which we are of course happy to do.
Wierzycka is no stranger to dealing with the media in South Africa, and is in fact a contributor to the Daily Maverick website.
She must have read this blurb that the website uses to punt her writing:
“Magda Wierzycka is no stranger to challenging the status quo. The actuary and consumer advocate believes in forcing transparency in the financial services industry, one educated investor at a time,” the website says.
We asked her those one investor’s questions, in good faith.
For the benefit of readers who don’t know, Wierzycka is no stranger to Business Report.
“I wondered why Iqbal Survé’s IOL/Business
Report attacked me again. Another defamation case… Boring.
“I think he and his brother-in-law Khalid Abdulla want me (to) distract me from AYO’s 2020 financials…” she wrote about the newspaper on May 26 on her Twitter account.
She seems to be under the very mistaken belief that Independent Group chairperson Dr Iqbal Survé struts among the reporters’ desks every day, telling them what to write.
Be that as it may.
I do believe that in this day and age, it is simply not good enough for the chief executive of a firm managing other people’s savings to not comment when it comes to questions of governance.