Cape Town - When financial services company Investec reports half-year results later this week, the performance of its asset management arm will inevitably be buried in the background.
Investec Asset Management chief executive Hendrik du Toit therefore took the opportunity yesterday to highlight some key developments during the year.
The asset manager, which reports its results in pounds, would post a half-year performance up in pounds and flat to down in rands, Du Toit said.
He was upbeat about the potential of the UK operation, which started out in 1998 with the acquisition of Guiness Flight and marked the internationalisation of the business.
"In the UK, massive top line growth is possible. After five years of sweating in the trenches we are now at a point where we have a business with strong top line expectations and a solid operation in South Africa."
In the UK, the group had succeeded in winning stability and performance. The aim now was to start growing.
The emphasis in that market would be on new business and revenue growth, while in South Africa the eye would be on quality and costs.
"The overall focus will be on a tighter, neater and better operation, with the current focus in South Africa on quality," Du Toit explained.
Investec Asset Management, which started out more than 10 years ago, has total funds under management of about R217.4 billion, of which about 45 percent is sourced from outside South Africa and the remainder from within.
It is active in both the institutional and retail markets in South Africa and in the UK, and is the second-largest South African-originated money management business after Old Mutual Asset Managers.
In the most recent Plexus survey, the money manager was ranked the third best management company over five years for the fourth quarter in a row, while over one and three years it was placed fourth out of 23 and 17 respectively.
In the past, the asset manager's balanced mandate performance has been weak, although this has been offset by robust specialist and retail fund performances.
Du Toit said that until the group succeeded in its goals in the UK, geographic expansion would be limited.
"We are absolutely focused on South Africa and the UK. Overstretched means making mistakes."
While a lot of consolidation had already taken place in the local market, he believed the industry was not yet out of the woods, with further opportunity to amalgamate niche players.