Alexander Forbes' survey of retirement funds' performance in 1997 shows some interesting and sometimes disastrous stock picking among the various participating fund management firms.
The largest investment held by BoE Investors Fund, consistently South Africa's top performing pension fund over one- and three-year periods, according to the survey, was BoE itself. This share made up 5,4 percent of the equity portion of BoE's retirement fund portfolio at the end of December 1997. The fund also held substantial stakes in other companies in the BoE stable four percent of the equities were in NBS Boland and 3,6 percent were in Orion.
But Fedsure Segregated Fund, which ranked second in the survey over one year and fourth over three years, held no shares associated with Fedsure among its top 10 equity investments at the end of December. Its largest investments were Anglo (5,5 percent of equities) and Absa (5,4 percent).
At Coronation, which was rated fifth in the year to December and third over three years, the only associated company investments in its top 10 list were Mobile Industries convertible debentures and Trencor shares.
The Liberty Element Managed Fund, which returned 5,7 percent in the year to December, held almost 35,3 percent of its equity portion in companies associated with Liberty 15,8 percent in Stanbic, 12 percent in SA Breweries, 4,1 percent in Libvest and 3,4 percent in Premier.
Liberty's almost 16 percent weighting in its equity portfolio towards Stanbic was the largest proportion any retirement fund in the survey invested in one company.
Absa's retirement funds also held a large weighting, at 11,6 percent of its equities, in Absa's own shares.
The worst performer in the survey over one and three years was the independent firm Foord & Meintjes, whose funds took large positions in a handful of shares 8,5 percent of the equity portfolio was in Richemont, 7,1 percent in Rembrandt, 6,8 percent in Sasol and 6,7 percent in De Beers.
Bev Bouwer, director of Alexander Forbes asset consulting division, says in last year's market it did not pay off to weight a portfolio too heavily towards one counter.
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m3 Capital has appointed John Storey as its managing director, replacing Bill Haslam, who will remain an actuarial consultant and director of the company.
Storey joined m3 Capital in July 1997 together with a team of senior managers from Investec. He has spent the past 15 years in the financial services industry, focusing mainly on technology, banking and investments.
m3 Capital has grown rapidly in the past few years. It started as a life insurance company called TimeLife Insurance which Haslam started after leaving Southern Life. The company grew slowly at first in April 1994 it numbered only 38 people but last year's injection of some senior managers from Investec has resulted in an increase in staff numbers, change of name and expansion of activities.
The former TimeLife is no longer a pure life insurance company. By the end of February m3 Capital is expected to number about 100 staff. It now covers nine main areas: asset management, wrap funds, employee benefits, unit trusts, endowments, credit life, international, private clients and technology.
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The Association of Unit Trusts held its annual general meeting last week, at which Selwyn Feldman of Old Mutual stood down as chairman. Feldman is leaving the unit trust industry to expand Old Mutual's broad interests in Africa. The Association elected Anton Kok, MD of Coronation Unit Trusts, as the new chairman.
Dries van Rooyen, MD of Fedsure Unit Trusts, was elected deputy chairman of the Association, replacing Phillip Scheel of Standard Bank Fund Managers, who has also moved on within the Standard Bank group and out of the unit trust industry.