The past five years have seen various funds and managers come to the fore in the annual Raging Bull Awards, which recognise outstanding performance by asset managers offering unit trust funds to retail investors. While large established firms such as Ninety One (previously Investec Asset Management) and PSG featured strongly, smaller, so-called “boutique” managers stole the limelight in many instances.
2020
The 2020 ceremony, for performance to the end of 2019, saw Cape-Town-based boutique manager Mi-Plan clinch the South African Manager of the Year title ahead of Investec Asset Management. Mi-Plan director Anton Turpin said the awards gave smaller firms a platform to show off their investment skills: “It’s an opportunity for smaller managers to reach investors and tell them about the rewards they can get through good stock selection, good asset allocation and good risk management.”
Kagiso (now Camissa) Asset Management, walked away with the most fund awards: two certificates and one trophy for straight performance, and two certificates and a trophy for risk-adjusted performance.
2021
Soon after the 2020 awards in February of that year, the world was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead of the traditional gala dinner, the 2021 ceremony took the form of a video presentation streamed online. This time newly named Ninety One turned the tables on Mi-Plan, taking the Manager of the Year crown, with Mi-Plan coming second. The Fairtree Equity Prescient Fund won trophies for straight and risk-adjusted performance, after winning a trophy for risk-adjusted performance the previous year.
It had been a tough period for investors, and this was recognised by Ninety One’s Sangeeth Sewnath who said it didn’t feel like there had been any winners that year, but its focus on long-term performance had proved decisive.
2022
Rewarding performance to the end of 2021, the 2022 awards again took the form of a streamed video presentation, and the same two managers came out on top: Ninety One
was declared South African Manager of the Year and Mi-Plan received the certificate for first runner-up. Sewnath said winning the award for a second time in a row in the two years since the company’s demerger was further confirmation that investors could be as confident in Ninety One as they had been in Investec Asset Management.
2023
With the pandemic largely behind us, this event, for performance to the end of 2022, reverted to its lavish gala dinner format. PSG Asset Management were the stars of the evening, winning SA Manager of the Year, ahead of Ninety One in second place. PSG also won the most fund awards on the night: three certificates and one trophy for straight performance and one certificate for risk-adjusted performance. Anet Ahern of PSG praised her team for sticking to its convictions through a few tough years. “If you don’t have conviction in your process and your positions, the market will wack you from side to side. You have to be able to keep your head and make the right decisions, no matter what the
circumstances,” she said.
2024
In a ceremony dominated by smaller asset managers in the fund awards, there emerged a new winner of the coveted SA Manager of the Year: Fairtree Asset Management, based in Bellville, Western Cape. PSG, the first runner-up, won three certificates and two trophies for straight performance. Fairtree group CEO Kobus Nel said the award represented a combination of hard work, commitment to its values and processes, and dedication to its clients. “Values are hugely important to us – integrity, excellence, growth, real authentic relationships and family – and we've built a unique culture on that set of values,” Nel said.
* Hesse is a former editor of Personal Finance and has acted as a consultant in planning the 2025 Raging Bull Awards.
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