Bastian Teichgreeber
Prescient is thrilled that the Prescient Balanced Fund has been invited onto the Allan Gray open platform in recognition of the effectiveness of the data-driven and factual approach that underpins our systematic investment approach.
We consider it the best recognition we could get for the hard work we have put into our processes over the last few years. Our approach to investments has evolved over many years and continues to do so every day. Our systems now process more than 110 million data points daily, and we are more information hungry than ever before, distilling the insights we get from the numbers into investment decisions that give us an edge.
Our firm conviction is that disciplined portfolio construction techniques and a scientific approach to asset allocation determine the long-term success of our client’s investment journey. Achieving consistently superior returns over time is not a given. In South Africa, investors are often more interested in stock-specific narratives that can win big or not at all. We ignore these entirely and, instead, are informed by science and guided by what the numbers tell us.
We have achieved high consistency in our investment outcomes by shifting the odds of a positive outcome in our favour. Based on all the evidence, we tilt portfolios depending on asset class valuations, the state of the global economy, the degree to which financial conditions are tight or easy and the level of uncertainty and irrationality prevailing in capital markets.
Risk management is always at the heart of our process, and given that we are “numbers” people, this is something we achieve with ease and is truly in line with Prescient’s spirit of investing.
Being accepted onto AG’s open platform has been quite a journey, a position we have fought for long and hard. At Prescient, we operate as a team and encourage humility and diversity. There are no superstar fund managers in our business – and thus, we all share in and celebrate this success together.
Prescient CEO Cheree Dyers highlights the importance of diversity in the investment team: “Over the last five years PIM has been intentional about building diverse teams across the business, but particularly within the investment team. We have looked beyond achieving strong BEE recognition and ownership. This achievement is great recognition and acknowledgement that a diverse team is a key contributor to long-term success and sustainability.”
We deem it a privilege to have access to an even larger client base through which we are entrusted with managing more people’s money. We are convinced that our systematic approach is the way of the future.
The evidence confirms how the often-quoted benefits of systematic investing, namely its scalability and comprehensive implementation processes at low fees, have benefited clients over the last few years. Our balanced fund is offered at a fee of only 30 basis points (bps) and a total investment cost (TIC)[1] of 0.52%.
While this makes us the most cost-effective fund in the ASISA Multi Asset High Equity category, our investors are by no means investing in a passively managed fund. We deliver fully active investment solutions with all the benefits of dynamically capturing market dislocations, efficiently allocating capital at all times and relying on our robust security selection process to unearth attractive alpha investment opportunities.
You can access the Prescient Balanced Fund via your Allan Gray Tax-Free Savings Account, Retirement Annuity or by investing in our unit trusts on the Allan Gray platform. Switching into the Prescient Balanced Fund on the platform is easy and seamless – and when you’ve done so, you will have access to a fund that has a proven consistency of outcomes that gets you closer to achieving your financial goals on a daily basis.
Figure 1: Lower fees provide a much higher degree of consistency of outperformance
[1] For the Prescient Balanced Fund (A2 class)
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