Blue Chip Journal - June 2019 edition

On the money
Making waves this quarter
Licenced to excel
Protea becomes an FSP
Fairtree Asset Management and Protea
Capital Management announced on 14
June that, after an intensive nine-month
process, the Financial Sector Conduct
Authority has granted Protea its own
Financial Service Provider (FSP) licence.
The licence will enhance the
independence of the Protea business
and allow Protea to execute on its
marketing plans and distribution
initiatives regarding the awardwinning
Protea range of hedge funds,
under its own brand. The Protea range
of hedge funds was launched over
the past three years and comprises a
South African Long/Short Hedge Fund,
a Global Long/Short Hedge Fund and
a Worldwide Flexible Hedge Fund.
The South African fund, the Fairtree
Protea Equity Long Short SNN Retail
Hedge Fund, was the best-performing
investment fund for 2018, out of all
funds available to the general South
African public, inclusive of long-only
funds and hedge funds (according to
Calling all financial advisors
Investment Think Tank launches in your area
data from Morningstar, ProfileData and
HedgeNews Africa).
Jean Pierre Verster, CEO of Protea,
comments: “This is an exciting next
step on our long-term wealth-creation
journey. I am grateful for the faith
that the public has placed in us by
investing in the Protea range of hedge
funds during a particularly difficult
three years in investment markets. We
are pleased with the strong returns
that the funds have generated thus
far and will continue to apply our
‘quantamental’ investment process in
a disciplined manner to maintain our
edge.”
Kobus Nel, CEO of Fairtree, comments:
“We are delighted that we could
support Jean Pierre and Protea Capital
Management in obtaining its own
FSP licence. This is a new season with
wonderful opportunities for Jean Pierre
and his team, and we have no doubt
that they will continue to thrive and
deliver market leading returns.”
A new industry event is being launched by The Collaborative Exchange. The Investment
Think Tank has been designed considering the needs of financial advisors in cities
outside of Sandton, Cape Town and Durban.. The event is a combination of thoughtleadership
and “Masterclass” principles. The event will also be eligible for CPD points/
hours and, subject to the approval of the FPI, is likely to attract six CPD points/hours.
The dates for these events are as follows:
• 30 July 2019 – The Roots Lifestyle Centre, Potchefstroom
• 1 August 2019 – The Boardwalk Hotel and Conference Centre, Port Elizabeth
• 5 August 2019 – Windmill Casino and Conference Centre, Bloemfontein
• 7 August 2019 – Tsogo Sun Emnotweni Conference Centre, Nelspruit.
Fund managers and DFMs (Discretionary Fund Managers) presenting include
Ashburton, Analytics, ClucasGray, Coronation, Credo, Element, Glacier Invest,
Laurium, Matrix, Morningstar, Obsidian, Prescient, Prudential, Rezco, Sentio, Stanlib,
Sygnia, Tantalum and Truffle.
www.investmentthinktank.co.za or email info@investmentthinktank.co.za
Strategic moves
Fuelling future growth
STANLIB announced on 28 May a pipeline of strategic
management moves in its investment team, marking
the next phase of its performance enhancing drive to
fuel future growth.
Since the announcement of its performance
drive in 2018 the group has achieved consolidation
of its equity capabilities, bolstered its index
capabilities and established its Credit Alternatives
team. It has also implemented a much-needed
rationalisation of STANLIB’s product range and
significantly strengthened its leadership team, both
key milestones for future growth. These efforts are
already having an impact, as evidenced by a 41%
increase in earnings for the 12 months to December
2018, improved investment performance in core
retail and institutional equity and balanced funds,
and significant growth in external third party client
cash inflows.
The group announced a series of senior-level
management changes that will take effect over the
course of 2019, to strengthen the quality and depth
of its investment teams.
Commenting on the announcement, Giles
Heeger, executive, Asset Management, said: “Over
the past 18 months STANLIB has made meaningful
progress to improve investment performance, but
there is still work to be done. The bolstering of our
investment teams is an important step in delivering
on our strategy and will go a long way to support
the execution on the next phase of growth for the
business.”