Stanlib continues its East African growth path as Stanlib Uganda officially launches

STANLIB’s vision is to not only become the leading asset manager in South Africa, but across the other emerging markets it serves. Today, Uganda officially became another of these emerging markets served by the local asset manager.

Stanbic Investment Management Services (EA) Ltd (SIMS) today rebranded to STANLIB at an event in Kampala. The move into Uganda further entrenches STANLIB’s foray into Africa, which has an established presence across Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. Last month, Kenya STANLIB was officially launched, with Uganda being the company’s next stronghold in East Africa.

STANLIB Uganda will build on a strong presence in the country’s wealth management services, which it has entrenched over the past decade since the company started operations in 2002.

STANLIB CEO, Thabo Dloti, said, “STANLIB Uganda will maintain its reputation for investment excellence and continue to build long-term relationships with clients – both retail and institutional. As we further entrench our presence in Africa, our goal remains to create innovative, locally-relevant investment solutions, and partnering with clients to ensure sustainable growth of their investments.”

The company already offers a suite of services tailored to meet the requirement of its Ugandan clients. The consolidation effort means that STANLIB in East Africa will be able to tap into the vast experience base the company has built across the continent over the years – namely southern Africa. It aims to develop a broader product mix, while remaining locally relevant.

Chief Executive Officer of the Capital Markets Authority, Japheth Katto, welcomed the move noting, “The transition of SIMS to STANLIB highlights the growth of the wealth and investment management services in Uganda - and indeed across Africa. Wealth management organizations continue to take on stronger identities that highlight the continued importance of the sector in the economic development of the country.”

STANLIB has a strong heritage with more than 290 years collective investment experience. STANLIB was founded in 2002 when Standard Bank Asset Management and Liberty Life Asset Management joined forces. Now wholly owned by Liberty Holdings, STANLIB contributed more than R400m in headline earnings for 2011 and manages over R390 billion assets for over 400 000 retail and institutional clients. With significantly improved performance across retail and institutional investment funds STANLIB remains one of South Africa’s top investment managers, evidenced by numerous awards for investment performance. STANLIB has successfully established franchises in unlisted credit, infrastructure and direct property with the potential to raise significant assets over the next five years in the South African, African and European markets.