WEALTH WATCH
STEPHEN CRANSTON: UK fund manager has built fine track record from insular roots
After being brought up in the closed JSE, Stonehage Fleming’s Smit now manages $2bn
You might think working in the insular South African financial market would not be good training for running international funds. This looks particularly true for fund managers who learnt the craft before 1995, when foreign equities were forbidden by the tight exchange control regime. But Gerrit Smit’s story proves this wrong. He has built up a strong track record in London, first at ACPI Investment Managers and now at Stonehage Fleming, one of the largest family offices outside the US. Fleming merged with Stonehage in 2014. Amazingly, Stonehage, founded by some enterprising Joburg northern suburbs boys, has its name ahead of Fleming, one of the grandest families in England (of Ian Fleming of James Bond fame). Quite a triumph for SA. Smit’s main responsibility is the Stonehage Fleming Global Best Ideas Equity Fund, which has $700m under management. He manages $2bn.Smit was brought up in the closed JSE — he was corporate action analyst at Sanlam Asset Management and chief investment ...
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