STEPHEN CRANSTON: It’s hard to make the top fund managers list
According to Alexander Forbes, the list of the top seven fund managers — and even the order in which they appear — remains unchanged
Has there been much change in the lineup of large fund managers? According to Alexander Forbes, the list of the top seven managers — and even the order in which they appear — remains unchanged. It is interesting how the international groups have made so few inroads in fund management, commonly known as the "buy side". Franklin Templeton and Alliance Capital tried to set up domestic operations, often assuming that business would flood in if they appointed a (foreign) black portfolio manager — who did not know the local market — and got into bed with a few well-connected consortiums. They underestimated the pull of the local brands. But the stockbrokers, or "sell side", were unable to fall back on the same brand loyalty and awareness: former SA stockbrokers Martin & Co and Ivor Jones, Roy & Co were hardly comparable brands to Old Mutual and Sanlam, or even Allan Gray. So it was a relatively simple process for foreign banks such as Deutsche Bank, Citi and JPMorgan to dominate the sell ...
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