Fairtree is SA investment industry’s Manager of the Year
Fairtree, a relatively young asset management firm based in Bellville, Western Cape, has outperformed the major players in South Africa’s investment industry to win the coveted South African Manager of the Year trophy at the annual Raging Bull Awards gala dinner, held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Monday.
The event recognised outstanding performance to the end of 2023 by unit trust fund managers in selecting investments for their portfolios, taking into account consistency and aversion to risk.
The Manager of the Year awards are based on the risk-adjusted performance of a manager’s suite of qualifying unit trust funds, as determined by the PlexCrown Fund Ratings system, over a five-year period.
The runners-up in the South African Manager of the Year race were last year’s winner, PSG Asset Management, in second place and Boutique Collective Investments in third place, each of which received a certificate.
Last year’s first runner-up, Ninety One, which took the prize in 2021 and 2022, dropped out of the top three.
The Raging Bull Award for Offshore Manager of the Year went to Orbis Investment Management, the offshore investment partner of Allan Gray, based in Bermuda, for its suite of offshore funds marketed to South Africans.
Dieketseng Maleke, the content editor of “Personal Finance”, which hosts the awards, said: “Heartiest congratulations to Fairtree, which came in just ahead of PSG Asset Management, in the company PlexCrown Ratings. It’s good to see the better-known, established industry players being challenged by up-and-coming investment firms. The competition is beneficial for investors, keeping costs in check and encouraging portfolio managers to actively seek out worthwhile investment opportunities.”
The other major awards at the event were fund-specific: four for straight performance over three years and four for risk-adjusted performance over five years, to the end of 2023.
The Raging Bull Awards for straight performance over three years were:
• Best South African Equity General Fund: Investec BCI Dynamic Equity Fund
• Best South African Interest-Bearing Fund: PSG Diversified Income Fund
• Best (SA-Domiciled) Global Equity General Fund: PSG Global Equity Feeder Fund
• Best (FSCA-Approved) Offshore Global Equity Fund: Contrarius Global Equity Fund
The Raging Bull Awards for risk-adjusted performance over five years were:
• Best South African Equity General Fund on a Risk-Adjusted Basis: Investec BCI Dynamic Equity Fund
• Best South African Multi-Asset Equity Fund on a Risk-Adjusted Basis: Aylett Balanced Prescient Fund
• Best South African Multi-Asset Flexible Fund on a Risk-Adjusted Basis: Salvo Prime Dynamic Flexible Fund
• Best (FSCA-Approved) Offshore Global Asset Allocation Fund on a Risk-Adjusted Basis: Coronation Global Capital Plus Fund
The event was sponsored this year by the JSE and PSG Asset Management. ProfileData and its subsidiary, PlexCrown Fund Ratings, were the data providers.
Full details of the awards plus interviews with winning fund managers will be published in a special souvenir pull-out tabloid supplement in the following Saturday newspapers on March 16: “Saturday Star”, “Weekend Argus”, “Saturday Independent” (KZN) and “Pretoria News”.
About Fairtree:
Fairtree Asset Management was founded in 2006 by group chairperson Andre Malan and group CEO Kobus Nel. Starting out as a hedge fund management company, it introduced a range of unit trust funds to its offering in association with administrator Prescient.
Some of these have featured strongly at the Raging Bull Awards since 2017, notably the Fairtree Equity Prescient Fund, which won the award for Best South African Equity Fund on a Risk-adjusted Basis four years in a row. The fund is now the fourth-largest domestic equity fund in South Africa, with more than R20 billion in assets under management, according to its fund fact sheet.
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