Prescient Investment Management boosts its equities team
StJohn Bunkell.
Looking to replicate the success of its interest-bearing products, Prescient Investment Management has signalled its commitment to further build its equities team with the intention of accelerating its growth in this competitive market.
Dr Raphael Nkomo at Prescient Investment Management, commented: “We’re well-known for our proficiency in the interest-bearing markets and we are looking to build additional depth and expertise on the equities side where the group sees significant opportunities.”
“In line with this approach, we’re pleased to announce the appointment of St John Bunkell to head up our equities team. A senior fund manager with extensive experience in equity markets, St John’s brief is to take our equities proposition and build on it.”
A finance executive with over 20 years’ experience in asset management, hedge funds, structured products and risk management, St John joins Prescie nt Investment Management on 1 February 2018 from Barclays Africa Group where he had been a Principal of Absa Alternative Asset Management since September 2009.
As a specialist in managing equity portfolios and a quantitative analyst with strong programming capabilities, St John’s background is ideally suited to Prescient’s pragmatic approach to investing as well as the development of innovative equity-based investment solutions in line with the firm’s investment ethos.
Prescient Investment Management’s core philosophy is to preserve capital and to manage relative and absolute downside risk. Prescient Investment Management has adhered to this approach to money management since its inception, adapting processes where changes in the market have created new opportunities or closed past ones.
Said Guy Toms, CIO and Executive Director at Prescient Investment Management: “Our process of limiting downside or relative risk is well suited to clients who are concerned about benchmark relative losses, and also those focusing on absolute capital preservation.”
“We actively manage risk and build investment portfolios by evaluating current market pricing, with a view to trade assets based on their current valuation, without forecasting. This pragmatic approach ensures that we are able to navigate through uncertain times and plot a course that generates consistent returns.”
Prescient Investment Management, one of a select few domestic asset managers not to lose money for investors following the 2008 crash, integrates risk into the management of portfolios and diversifies the drivers of asset returns across multiple factors that influence investment returns.
Prescient aims to provide certainty to clients – especially in terms of avoiding capital losses, and will remain true to its processes, using risk management skills to mitigate downside risk.
Mr Toms described Prescient’s process as systematic, robust, repeatable and individual agnostic to arrive at rule-based valuations.
“This tenant underpins our investment team where we’re investing in broadening and deepening the talent base with a view to delivering superior risk-adjusted performance across market sectors, while also continuing to build our assets under management.”
On managing equities in the current investment environment, Mr Bunkell commented: “this is an exciting time in the evolution of the asset management industry within the equity landscape. Several disruptive and innovative advancements in the management of equities will in all likelihood require a careful rethink of our current and historic practices. It is my firm belief that the rigorous investment philosophy and dedication to ongoing research, which underpins the Prescient approach to management of capital, uniquely positions the firm to take advantage of these advancements and in so doing offer significant value to its investor base.”
