Sustaining operations does not come cheap for black asset management firms, more especially bringing on board a highly skilled professional to their team. Results of an annual BEE.conomics survey on transformation in the South African asset management industry survey unearthed this.
The limited pool of black investment professionals means that hiring black professionals staff is very expensive, according to Fatima Vawda, managing director of 27four Investment Managers.
Said Vawda: “The biggest challenges for black asset management firms are brand recognition and capital.”
Together the 32 black-owned asset managers that took part in this year’s survey managed R283.1 billion of assets as at June 30. Ten companies managed 94% of the overall assets.
Taquanta Asset Managers and Kagiso Asset Management, which have both been in operation for more than a decade, collectively manage over 50% of the R283.1 billion total assets under management (see below).