Adrian de Fay, founder and CEO of De Fay Asset Management, will join Investec Asset Management as part of a take-over of his business, the group announced today. De Fay, who boasts 26 years of industry experience, will take on the management of the Investec Equity and Investec Equity Hedge Fund from Gail Daniel, who has chosen to focus her expertise on the management of the Investec Managed Fund, a fund she has managed successfully for seven years.
“We are thrilled to welcome Adrian to the team. He has an excellent long-term track record in both alternative and long-only investing and we are confident that he will continue the proud record we have built up with the Investec Equity Fund over the past 18 years,” Sam Houlie, Head of SA Equities at Investec Asset Management, said. De Fay’s Equity Fund won a Morningstar awardin Aprilthis yearfor the best performing fund over three years in the General Equity sector.
De Fay was the chief investment officer and one of the founding directors of De Fay Asset Management, which he established in 2000. Before setting up the company, De Fay held various positions in the asset management industry in London. He has worked as an analyst and portfolio manager at Standard Merchant Bank and Smith New Court Plc/Merrill Lynch.
Commenting on his appointment, De Fay said: “Investec Asset Management is the ideal firm in my case as it allows me the opportunity to retain my investment style within the framework of a first-class investment infrastructure."
Investec Asset Management pioneered the multi-specialist approach in South Africa. According to CEO Hendrik du Toit this approach allows the firm always to be active in the market for investment talent. “The architecture of our firm makes it easy for diverse talent to flourish. Appointing quality people is what we do; recent examples include Sam Houlie and Chris Freund, both of whom are leading managers in their respective investment strategies.
“For our investment managers we provide an environment conducive to outstanding investment performance, as evidenced by our 18-year history. Our culture, which encourages creative thinking, individual accountability and freedom within the context of teamwork really makes the difference. In addition, we provide access to international best practice and solid infrastructure, which contains a team of world class analysts, an unbiased and well-tested investment research framework and the required business support, ranging from client service and sales to marketing, dealing and risk management. This allows our investment managers to focus on what they do best – managing our clients’ money to the best of their abilities.”
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