After the merger between Sanlam Investments Multi-Manager (SI:MM) and Absa Multi-Management, just one member of the combined executive committee (exco) will be from the former Absa ranks.

This merger follows the December transaction where Absa exchanged its investment management business, Absa Investments, for a stake in Sanlam Investment Holdings (SIH).

Jonel Matthee, who was previously head of Absa Multi-Management (AMM), will be the head of Sanlam Multi Management International (SMMI).

Shaun Ruiters, SI:MM CEO, described SMMI as the business’s institutional arm. In addition, SI:MM also includes Glacier Invest, Amplify Investment Partners and Graviton Partners. 

The other business heads at SI:MM have kept their roles. Marthinus van der Nest remains head of Amplify. Mark Duff remains the chief executive of Graviton Partners. Hayley Brown is still head of Glacier Invest.

Ruiters said Absa did not have an equivalent of the Amplify best-in-class range. In addition, he said Absa had only taken small steps towards setting up a DFM under Louis Bekker, who formally worked for stockbrokers Barnard Jacobs Mellet.

The Johannesbrug-based Absa staff have moved a few doors down to the Sanlam offices in Alice Lane in Sandton.

 ‘The team operates quite seamlessly on virtual platforms, but it will meet physically at our main building in Tyger Valley once a month,’ Ruiters said.

 
 
He added that there are 15 multi-manager unit trusts under either the Sanlam or Absa brand.

‘We will merge funds when appropriate, but we will continue to run Absa branded funds which will be sold through the Absa distribution channels, such as the private bank.’

Platform integration
Glacier CEO Khanyi Nzukuma said integrating Absa Investment Management Services (Aims) into the Glacier platform could take up to two years.

‘We are integrating four separate platforms into one modern platform,’ he explained.

‘We have commissioned SS&C Technologies to help us build an integrated platform which will include the existing Glacier lisp, the recently acquired Alexforbes individual client administration (Afica), Aims and the platform on which Glacier administers Sanlam’s single premium life policies and guaranteed annuities.’

Nzukuma said the internal Absa sales channels would still sell through an Absa-labelled platform with its own product range.

Alexforbes retail consultants will still  have a tailored menu of product options, similar to the old Afica product architecture.

He said that after the Afica and Aims integration, Glacier would overtake Allan Gray to become South Africa’s largest linked investment service provider (Lisp).

AUM over R500bn
‘Glacier now has R320bn AUM, about the same as the Ninety One Lisp and Allan Gray has R390bn. We will exceed R500bn after the integration,’ Nzukuma said.

He said Glacier currently sources 60% of AUM from independent financial advisers and 40% from Sanlam-tied agents.

Nzukuma said Sanlam would have more discretionary assets once it integrated Aims.

‘Right now, Glacier is very strong in post-retirement savings. Our living annuity alone has R120bn AUM, but we lag behind Allan Gray in assets outside tax-favoured retirement wrappers.’

He said Sanlam would not be acquiring Absa’s structured products business, which remains in Absa’s investment banking unit. Sanlam said this is a niche business that does not fit with Glacier’s market-linked business.