Xenophobia in South Africa

May 2010

Advantageous Insights is produced by the Research team at

Advantageous Insights

May 2010

Contents

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Absa Balanced Fund Industry Dynamics

Absa Asset Management
In this edition of Advantageous Insights, we focus on Absa Asset Management, in particular, its balanced mandate. For completeness we will also provide insights into the company’s background, the composition of the investment team, the investment philosophy and process, and attribution analysis to determine how well this philosophy is translating into value-add. team members, that were willing, to Johannesburg, where he would consolidate six Absa investment companies under a single co-ordinated management structure. The six Absa companies were: • Absa Asset Management, which is an institutional fund manager wholly owned by the Absa Group. Absa Portfolio Managers, trading as Absa Asset Management Private Clients. Absa Fund Managers, which has managed Absa’s unit trusts since 1991. Absa Stockbrokers, which has been a member of the JSE since 1959. Absa Mortgage Fund Managers (1988), which manages the Absa Participation Bond Fund. Absa Investment Management Services (AIMS) (1980) which is involved in multi-management, investment advice models and investment administration.

The background Asset Management

on

Absa

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Absa Asset Management (ABAM) is a specialist institutional investment business. Previously known as Abvest Associates, the group was founded by John Winship (CEO, previous CEO of BOE Asset Management) and Bryan Hopkins (CIO, previous CIO of Old Mutual and founder of Velocity Asset Management) as a joint venture with Absa. Initially the Absa Money Market Fund, one of the largest money market funds in the country, provided the core assets for the new entity. This was Absa’s second foray into the asset management business. Later though, the team attracted an asset management team, which included luminaries such as Sam Houlie (now with Investec), Kimon Boyiatjis (now at...