IFC-SinCo reports US$125 billion in Sustainable Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa
19 July 2011
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has released the most comprehensive study to date of Sustainable
Investment (SI) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The report is based on research by SinCo and RisCura including over
160 interviews of investors and advisors.
Read more |
|
|
RisCura launches new LDI Monitoring Service
19 July 2011
RisCura has launched a monthly monitoring service that uses the principles of liability-driven investment (LDI) to detail how the assets of a defined benefit pension fund are tracked versus its liabilities, and according to its investment strategy.
This service capitalises on RisCura’s ten years of LDI experience and expertise in the South African and Namibian pension fund and investment market.
Read more |
|
|
RisCura Fundamentals: RisCura South African Private Equity Performance Report - Q4
April 2011
We are pleased to release the second edition of the SAVCA RisCura South
African Private Equity Performance Report. This report tracks the
performance of a representative basket of South African private equity
funds and is released quarterly on an ongoing basis.
Read more
Methodology |
|
|
Catalyst: Revision to Reg 28 gives private equity a chance to prove its worth.
Q4 2010
In December 2010, the National Treasury issued a second take on the revised Regulation 28 of the Pensions Fund Act. Reg 28 sets prudential limits on the allocations that South African pension funds make to different asset classes and has historically restricted investment into unlisted equity to part of a 5% allocation with other alternative assets.
Read more |
|
|
Todays Trustee: Whoops! So that's how much share trades cost?
March/May 2011
Share trade cost analysis can make a big difference to fund performance. Jacobus Troveri, head of RisCura Transition, discusses the advantages of it and explains how the analysis of transaction costs is an often-underutilised tool for asset managers and pension fund trustees. It allows them to monitor share trades for cost efficiency and quality of execution.
Read more |
|
RisCura Fundamentals: RisCura South African Private Equity Performance Report - Q3
February 2011
RisCura Fundamentals launches a comprehensive performance report for South African private equity that highlights the impressive track record of the local industry over the past ten years.
Read more |
|
Proposed regulations could impact private equity market
August 2010
The move to limit
pension fund
investment into
unlisted assets
may have the
unintended consequence
of hindering
economic growth.
Read more |
|
Sinclair & Company and RisCura Launch Ground-Breaking Multi-Country Sustainable Investment Survey in Africa, commissioned by IFC
March 2010
Sinclair & Company (SinCo) and RisCura today officially announce the first study on sustainability practices amongst investment managers in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on private equity. The research is commissioned by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group and the results will provide investors worldwide with a better understanding of the extent to which environment, social and governance (ESG) factors are integrated into investment practices in the region. .
Read more |
|
Do uncertain times mean uncertain valuations?
August 2009
The South African private equity industry is at an all time high with capital commitments to funds passing the R100bn mark.
Read more |
|
Do the old rules still apply?
March 2009
For any investment strategy to make sense you need to start at the beginning: why are you investing and what are your goals and expectations?
Read more |
|
GIPF appoints RisCura as investment consultant
4 March 2009
RisCura, an independent risk and investment consultant, was recently appointed as investment consultants to the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) of Namibia.
Read more |
|
Bottoms up!
31 December 2008
Top consultants to retirement funds share the advice they're giving their clients. There's a remarkable consensus: Hang in and exploit the fantastic buying opportunities that present themselves.
Read more |
|
Tale of stochastic modelling
30 September 2008
Born glamorous and useless but now emerging as the royal tool of financial advice. Read more |
|
How did they do?
6 March 2008
Performance of ten of the largest retirement funds versus investment classes. Read more
|
|
Aim at soft landing
11 January 2008
Hiring or firing your asset manager? You might want to consider using a transition management strategy before moving large piles of assets around. Read more
|
|
360º snapshot of responsible investing - A basic primer
31 December 2007
THE GOVERNMENT Employees’ Pension Fund (GEPF) - South Africa and Africa’s largest pension fund - recently signed the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI), thereby setting an example for SA’s retirement industry that SRI should no longer be a secondary investment consideration way down on a long list of priorities. Read more
|
|
Good governance in plain English: A review of PF130
31 September 2007
Many of the latest scandals in the retirement fund industry like Fidentia, bulking etc. have stemmed from a failure in governance. The Financial Services Board (FSB) believes these scandals could have been avoided if strong, accountable Boards of Trustees had been in place. Read more
|
|
Disclose all costs
12 September 2006
Over the last couple of years, the savings industry has come under considerable pressure to reform with lack of disclosure cited as one of the key areas of concern. Disclosure can be defined as the “submission of all facts and details concerning a situation or business operation”. Read more
|
|
Portable alpha
28 August 2006
In this article we look at the strategy of using portable alpha and the opportunity that it creates for including non-traditional investments, like hedge funds, into a fund’s asset allocation.
We’ll first look at the concept of alpha and beta and describe why portable alpha was developed. Next we explain portable alpha via a simple example and discuss the types of managers that can be used with this strategy. Read more
|
|
Asset liability modeling - understanding the basics
22 August 2006
To fully understand what asset liability modeling (ALM) is and how it works, we’ll need to go back to basics. In general, people don’t work continuously until they die but eventually reach an age when it’s either impossible or unfeasible for them to carry on working. Once they have stopped working, most people still have many years to live, and with that come the associated needs, wants and responsibilities of everyday life. People still need to, for example, eat and have a place to live, etc and therefore require an income or some sort of savings to afford this. Read more
|
|
Hedge fund managers rake in the bucks
27 June 2006
South Africa’s hedge fund industry is mushrooming, with assets under management more than doubling in the last 18 months to about R16,8bn. That number is expected to jump to R20bn by the end of the year and R30bn by December 2007, according to Kevin Shames, a director of Alpha Asset Management. Read more
|
|
Stick to the map: The importance of rebalancing
11 April 2006
Over the last year, investors have enjoyed the returns from what has been a very fizzy local equity market. The equity party may or may not be over, but after such a period, it’s become very important for trustees to review how their funds are positioned for the next 12 months. Read more
|
|
Retirement fund focus
14 March 2006
Host: Michael Coulson
Guest: Laurett Jardim, Director - RisCura
MICHAEL COULSON:
Hello and welcome, I am Michael Coulson. A number of companies have recently released analyses of retirement fund investment performance for 2005. These can be difficult to decipher and seem to bear little resemblance to what members actually see on their benefit statements. My guest tonight is Laurett Jardim, a director at the consultancy Riscura, who will shed some light on how members should look at these reports. Thanks for joining us Laurett.
Read more
|
|
Big players wake up
14 March 2006
Like elsewhere in the global hedge fund market, South African private clients were historically the main driving force behind the industry's rapid growth. But, in recent years, the sleeping giants of institutional investment have begun to wake up to the attractions of hedge funds.
Read more |
|
Fund managers fight it out to the end
23 January 2006
The final year-to-date results have come in and have culminated in one of the largest asset managers clinching the top spot in the recent performance manager surveys. Allan Gray has again reaffirmed its position as top performing fund manager. This is according to RisCura's latest monthly performance survey, RisCView, which assesses the risk and performance of fund managers in South Africa.
Read more |
|
Independence just a factor
Financial Mail
1 December 2005
In most industries consultants perform a "feel good" role, providing a level of comfort for managers. Our former editor and MD, Stephen Mulholland, used to pride himself on never paying a cent to consultants, as he thought it was his job to manage and make decisions. Read more |
|
No crystal balls
Financial Mail
1 December 2005
But some information about past performance can indicate skill.
Many people like to review their unit trust holdings at the end of the year and replace the disappointing performers with more promising funds. Read more |
|
