Electus appoints top fund manager for new global emerging markets fund

ELECTUS, one of the specialist investment boutiques within Old Mutual Investment Group SA (OMIGSA), is delighted to announce the appointment of Anwaar Wagner as lead portfolio manager of their new Global Emerging Markets (GEM) equity fund. The move represents a move for Anwaar within OMIGSA, as he is currently fund manager of the award-winning Old Mutual Mining & Resources Fund and Head of OMIGSA’s Resource Sector Research in the Equity Research boutique. Anwaar has over 10 years of investment experience, six of which have been with OMIGSA.

“Anwaar’s experience and expertise in diversified mining companies and non-mining resource companies strengthens and complements our existing skills in other major market sectors,” said joint boutique head Neil Brown. “In fact, the ELECTUS investment team now has award-winning track records in unit trust fund management across financial, mining, small companies and general equity funds.”

Anwaar will continue to manage the Old Mutual Mining & Resources Fund until a suitable replacement is found, as the internal move will ensure the smoothest possible manager transition process.

“While our own focus remains firmly on the range of South African equity funds we currently manage, with just under R30 billion in assets under management, Anwaar’s primary function at ELECTUS will be as a GEM equity analyst and the lead portfolio manager of the GEM equity fund, which is set for launch in April 2010,” explained joint boutique head Richard Hasson. “His responsibilities will be to perform proprietary global emerging market share analysis and to build a portfolio for the fund, based on the existing ELECTUS investment philosophy and process. Although Anwaar’s focus will be on the GEM fund, his extensive knowledge in the mining and resources sector will provide extremely valuable input into our stock-selection process across all of the South African equity funds that we manage.”

Added Neil Brown: “We believe it is important for ELECTUS to devote more resources to understanding and investing in global emerging markets, as we believe they are becoming increasingly important in shaping and driving global and South African economic growth. The improvements in the socio-political, demographic and fiscal landscapes in many GEM countries over the last two decades have led to increased economic growth when compared to developed economies. Consequently, we have both been to several GEM-specific conferences in emerging countries, such as China, over the past two years in order to improve our knowledge of this increasingly important driver of global growth and investment returns.

“The GEM equity fund is a natural extension of our analysis and understanding, and we will therefore formally commit a small portion of our time to this product and its future success. A greater understanding of South African shares in a GEM and global context should therefore be strongly beneficial to our current South African equity portfolios and their future returns,” he concluded.