A new player…

London-based RMB MultiManagers – a wholly-owned subsidiary of the FirstRand group - recently launched its institutional investment management services to the South African market.

In the audience was Laurie Dipenaar, FirstRand CEO, who listened as Glyn Owen, Head of RMB MultiManagers said that essentially they are the international multi-management arm of the FirstRand group, and then launched three products, which Owen says are compliant with local regulations.

The minimum amount of assets that they will accept on the three products is flexible as the assets are pooled. On the tailor-made offering there is a minimum value of $2m.

The three core offerings are on the long-only side, via an insurance wrapper provided by Momentum, which is unique to SA, while there is also a fund of hedge funds offering.

“Our launch brings opportunities for South African institutional clients, especially those wishing to split the management of their local and offshore assets in order to gain access to some of the best international managers.”

According to Owen they have USD 1.75bn in assets under management, and they have obtained critical mass and are able to negotiate ‘keen’ rates - rates that individual investors would be hard pressed to get.

When selecting asset managers Owen says that the size of the assets under management is a big issue. “We look for smaller players who are focused on fund performance and not on business imperatives. We look for performance-oriented managers and not asset gatherers.”

According to Tom Joy, the chief investment officer, “The size of the investment teams doesn’t guarantee good performance. It also seems that that the bigger teams are marketing-led asset gathers.”

“We believe it not just about risk management but also about out-performance,” says Owen.