PODCAST | Ashburton bullish about SA equities

Opportunities for investment in SA equities is the focus of this edition of Business Day Spotlight. Host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Charl de Villiers, head of equities at Ashburton Investments

The discussion focuses on Ashburton Investments’ equity fund performance and market outlook. Ashburton is the investment and asset management arm of FirstRand. 

Three years after a new management team, including De Villiers, took over the running of Ashburton, the fund manager is please with the performance. 

Ashburton’s equity fund delivered about 14.5% per annum returns through the period, outperforming the benchmark by 1% to 1.5%. The fund has been shifted from offshore-heavy to SA-focused, now at 100% local equities.

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The fund has assets under management of about R1bn across retail and institutional investors. 

De Villiers is bullish about SA equities due to potential economic reforms, GDP growth and interest rate cuts. He sees opportunities in mid-cap stocks, financials and select technology companies like Altron. 

He does admit that ongoing JSE delistings are a concern, but the local exchange still offers international exposure via large cap stocks such as the Naspers/Prosus stable. 

Through the discussion, De Villiers outlines their equities fund performance; the outlook on the SA economy; opportunities for investors in local equities; and factors driving the fund managers’ optimism. 

The FirstRand unit has seven members total, made up of a mix of experienced portfolio managers and newer hires. The core team has a history of working together, having largely come out of Sanlam. 

Business Day Spotlight is a MultimediaLIVE Production. 

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