Naspers and the problem of size
The rise of Naspers poses problems for pension funds and financial advisers alike
Naspers is by far the largest listing on the JSE, making up more than 17% of the all-share index and more than 21% of the SWIX thanks to the performance of Chinese internet conglomerate Tencent, in which it holds a 34% stake. It has been a great success story for ordinary South Africans who have held the share over many years. When they bought it, few would have thought they would one day benefit from internet growth in China. I’ve come across ordinary employees of divisions of Naspers who received what was then a token amount of shares in the company but which are now worth hundreds of thousands of rand – even millions in some cases. I’ve even met an individual whose father left him a Naspers share certificate that he buried in a safe for 10 years. Those shares are now worth R10-million and he didn’t even know it! The rise of Naspers has, however, posed some problems for asset managers and financial advisers alike. Having a benchmark that is heavily exposed to one share is a phenom...
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