Manager Development

Developing an inclusive investment industry

Over the last decade, the South African investment industry has seen several developments and trends emerge. One of these key developments is the increased attention placed on developing transformed investment firms, specifically along race and gender lines. This is a necessary first step in building a more inclusive investment industry that represents the demographics of the people it serves. Currently, only 15% of South Africa’s total savings industry is managed by transformed asset managers. To effect real change, and create a truly diverse and inclusive, more work and collaboration is needed.

Asset Manager Development Programme 

Investing for a better South Africa includes the development of an inclusive investment industry. At RisCura, we’ve always understood the need to do this. That is why we started our Asset Manager Development Programme over 20 years ago. RisCura’s programme has aimed at upskilling and assisting emerging black and women managers. Several of these asset managers have now grown into some of the country’s leading investment managers.

Over time, we have learnt lessons that have benefited start-up, emerging and developed black-owned and women-owned asset managers. RisCura’s programme focuses on more than just investing in managers based on ownership. We have on-going engagements with asset managers during the start-up phase to ensure that they experience sustainable growth and graduate to emerging managers and developed managers.

Leveraging RisCura’s institutional investor experience, our global investment research team conducts a full due diligence to ensure that the managers meet initial start-up criteria. Once they are admitted into the programme, our team provides a dedicated manager support service that conducts on-site checks, offers guidance and allows these managers to gain access to over 20 years of institutional knowledge residing within our team.

Through this process, asset managers are to able grow in their businesses to levels required by institutional investors, whilst the investors themselves can have peace of mind that their investments in the asset manager development programme are benefiting from RisCura’s oversight and experience. RisCura offers the asset manager development programme to institutional investors on both an advisory as well as discretionary basis. In the discretionary programme, investors provide us with mandates to meet their specific manager development investment goals. RisCura is dedicated to working with our clients to build additional capacity in the industry, across all asset classes, so all ultimately enable and benefit a more inclusive investment industry.

African Women Impact Fund

RisCura is proud to be the investment manager and provider of management development and support services to the African Women Impact Fund (AWIF). The Fund’s mandate is to invest with women-owned and managed investment firms or women-led strategies within other investment firms, covering both listed and unlisted markets.

Launched in September 2022 by the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa (UNECA) and the Standard Bank Group, together with its partners – UN Women, the Office of the Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security of the African Union Commission, and the African Women Leadership Network – the AWIF seeks to bolster the number of women working in finance and asset management. This is a welcome change in the face of research findings showing that the percentage of female fund managers in 2022 was 12% globally, which was a mere 1.7% increase since 2016.

The AWIF is a multi-managed aggregator fund that invests in the African Women Public Markets Impact Fund, which is open-ended and focused on funds that invest in public markets, and the African Women Private Markets Impact Fund, which is closed-ended and focused on funds investing in private markets with exposure to private equity, private debt, venture capital, infrastructure and direct property.

Attracting and empowering more talented female asset managers throughout Africa leads the way for a more inclusive asset management industry. Women fund managers are more likely to enable more inclusivity in the assets they invest in, whether it’s companies or bond issuers. This will in turn empower more women into economic inclusion on the continent, an outcome that would serve to uplift African societies and nations in turn. In short, a more inclusive investment industry is essential to investing for a better world that reflects all members of society.

As a purpose-drive firm, care is a thread that runs through everything we do at RisCura. Our shared purpose is to work towards the long-term good of our clients, society and the planet. Given our lengthy experience in investment management and asset manager development in Africa, our association with the AWIF further demonstrates our support for diversity in the investment industry.

Why RisCura

RisCura is a purpose-driven global investment firm. Over the years, RisCura has been at the forefront of innovation in the investment industry, specialising in frontier and emerging markets. RisCura has many years’ experience in researching and selecting asset managers both locally and globally. Within South Africa, we have assisted several long-term clients with identifying, selecting and implementing incubation managers in our advisory role.