In spite of some of the largest SA pension funds’ support, black economic empowerment managers still battle to achieve critical mass. In the private sector, institutional market trustees demand well-known names, and brands are even more critical in the unit trust market.
Though I look at managers quite regularly, I wouldn’t consider Balondolozi, Benguela or Mianzo to be top-of-mind brands. Argon is better known in the industry thanks to the flamboyance of its former boss, Mothobi Seseli, but that’s not quite enough to confer brand status. Even the more established businesses are barely known to the retail public. Taquanta is the Intel inside most of the Nedgroup fixed interest funds, but it is buried quite deep inside.