Old Mutual Investment Group (OMIG) has been recognised as the top-ranking asset manager among its peers in a new survey that measures key transformation metrics including ownership, representation, equity, impact and governance.
The DEInvest Annual Survey 2024 released yesterday for the first time recognised the top-performing firms in the 27four DEI Index across their respective AUM (asset under management) categories. OMIG was recognised in the large asset manager category, or asset managers with assets above R100 million.
South Africa's asset managers are under increasing pressure to address transformation, with for instance the Public Investment Corporation, the allocator of government employee pension funds for investment by local asset managers, saying in its last annual report it had allocated 66% of its domestic equity capital to black-owned fund managers. Driven by these pressures, JSE-listed Coronation Fund Managers also recently moved to increase its black shareholding to over 51%.
According to 27four, the DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) Index framework assesses asset managers across five key dimensions – ownership, representation, equity, impact, and governance - with the aim of driving transformation. It provides a standardised framework for asset managers to evaluate their DEI performance and serves as a tool for investors to screen asset managers based on DEI criteria.
"This recognition is especially meaningful as it demonstrates that a large asset manager in South Africa is capable of successfully effecting genuine transformation when the leadership and shareholders are truly committed to change, as we have been at Old Mutual Investment Group," Old Mutual Investment Group MD Tebogo Naledi said in a statement.
The 14 asset managers in the over R100 billion assets under management category manage in excess of R7 trillion combined, with the total number of asset managers that participated in the DEInvest Survey being 93, managing R8.4 trillion in total.
OMIG, which reached majority black ownership in 2023, had made significant strides in the progress of its transformation strategy, implemented by an executive team comprising 88% black and/or female individuals. The company is 65% black-owned and is 32% black women owned. Led by Siboniso Nxumalo as chief investment officer, 72% of its investment professionals are black and/or female.
Its training programme is also firmly focused on transformation progress, with 41 black investment analysts having been trained over the last 11 years.
"It's not an overnight process; it requires intentional, sustained action across multiple dimensions. We know that there's still more work to be done," said Naledi.
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