Building on the success Investec Asset Management has achieved in the institutional market since inception in Botswana in 1996, the group this week said it was extending its offering to the retail market with the introduction of a retail fund range, including a flagship multi-asset unit trust that invests in both local and offshore assets.
“This is an exciting milestone for our business and reaffirms our commitment to building lasting relationships with our clients in Botswana. Changing demographics, growing incomes and an improving savings culture in Botswana present an enormous opportunity for those investment managers that position their retail businesses appropriately.
In addition, investors in the retirement space are also becoming more sophisticated as more and more retirees seek better products,” said Martinus Seboni, MD of Investec Asset Management Botswana.
Investec Asset management is one of only a small number of fund managers to have succeeded in having its unit trusts registered with the Bank of Botswana (former regulator of CIUs).
The flagship fund of this initiative is the Investec Botswana Managed Fund.
Jointly managed by Seboni and Roelof Horne, the fund provides local and global diversification opportunities within one integrated balanced portfolio.
According to Seboni the fund is ideally suited to investors who have a moderate risk profile who don’t want to actively manage their own asset allocation.
Twenty nine funds within the Investec Global Strategic Fund Range have also been approved. These include five money market funds, nine bond funds, one balanced fund and fourteen equity funds.
“Botswana is an exciting market, with an impressive GDP per capita of close to $6 000, bank deposits of over P30 billion and healthy foreign reserves. By broadening our product offering, we are confident that we can tap into this enormous potential while offering the best possible investment solutions to our clients,” Seboni concluded.
