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Sygnia Asset Management (Pty) Ltd
www.sygnia.co.za
Company details
FAIS FSP registration number:
873
Switchboard:
+27 21 446 4940
Fax: +27 21 446 4940
General email: info@sygnia.co.za
Address:
7th Floor, The Foundry, Cardiff St, Cape Town, 8001
Compliance officer name: Juanita Wehr-Brown +27 21 446 2497
Investment philosophy
The ultimate objective of Sygnia’s investment process is to grow client’s assets in a stable and consistent manner over time. We believe that achieving this with lower short term volatility and lower downside risk, will, all else being equal, be a better experience for investors than experiencing greater volatility and more significant drawdowns, even if the ultimate long term returns are similar. The adversity to capital loss philosophy translates into a more stable return pattern and mirrors our beliefs. Investment in a well-constructed and managed portfolio allows investors to access returns in a risk-controlled manner.
We believe that in an emerging market such as South Africa, asset class and sector allocations are the main determinants of both risk and the ultimate returns of a portfolio. We consequently employ rigorous quantitative analysis processes to determine the optimised allocation of both risk and return to ensure that they are consistent with a client’s expectations and liability profile. We incorporate credit portfolios, property funds, inflation-linked bonds and global alternative assets, amongst others, to improve the overall risk-and-return characteristics of the investment strategies. These asset classes ensure diversification of risk, a key determinant of relative performance.
It is our belief that market efficiency approximately holds at the large averages level, but there is significant evidence that various investment strategies employed by Sygnia’s handpicked active managers have net residual active returns over time. We also firmly believe that containing costs for investors is a large determinant of achieving long-term investment objectives. As such, we believe in a large allocation to passive management within our overall portfolios. For us it is not a question of whether to choose one or the other (active versus passive) – rather it is a portfolio construction question, where the best blend of the two approaches should be used to solve the investment requirement for the product or client. Thus, Sygnia also views portfolio construction along a spectrum ranging from purely passive to purely active and skills-based. The allocation to credit within our portfolios would be classified at the purely active and skills based part of the spectrum, since no part of any of our credit exposure can be passively replicated in its risk and performance characteristics.
FAIS requirements
Who is your FAIS complaints officer?
Mary-Anne Rossouw
Please provide the link to the complaints policy on your website: https://assets.ctfassets.net/26bnfuc012vy/ qh33bHLjGOR1DKjJGYzR0/379167b63411128 f079988dd3db3d857/Sygnia-Web-ComplaintsPolicy.pdf
Ownership
What is the ownership structure of the company?Who are the directors of the company? David Hufton, Murad Sirkot, Faheema Ismail and George Cavaleros
Interest in ownership? Please provide the percentage held by staff and management: None
History
When was the company established? 2003
List of mergers and acquisitions that have taken place since being established: The Company purchased the Itrix ETF business in 2015 and Gallet (Umbrella fund) in 2016.
B-BBEE credentials
Are you B-BBEE accredited? Yes
What is your B-BBEE status? Level 1
By whom have you been accredited? SANAS - The Legal Verfification Team
Date of accreditation: 2021-12-15
GIPS
Are you GIPS compliant? No
Are you GIPS verified? No
By whom have you been verified? –
Date of verification: –
Expiry date of verification: –
Investment mandates
What are your total assets under management as owned by South African clients only?
R285 billion
Please detail the mandates you currently manage and the size of each of these mandates:
Institutional: R233 billion
Retail: R52 billion
Life: -
Other: -
Key investment personnel
Size of investment team: 24
Iain Anderson Head: Investments
BMath (Hons), CFA
19 years of industry experience
13 years with the firm
Kyle Hulett Head: Investments
BBusSc (Act), FFA, FASSA, CFA
23 years of industry experience
5 years with the firm
Steven Empedocles
Head: Index Management
BCom (Hons—Fin Risk Man), CFA, FRM
9 years of industry experience
8 years with the firm
Phumlile Smith
Head of Research
BCom (Econ & Econometrics, BCom (Hons—Econ)
13 years of industry experience
6 months with the firm
Anrich de Jager
Portfolio Manager
BCom (Hons—FAPM), CFA
8 years of industry experience
6 years with the firm