Fund Profiles

Johannesburg-based Duality Systems is preparing to launch its Duality Systems Primary Fund to outside investors, having generated a strong internal track record with its South African quantitative-based strategy.

Professor Paul van Rensburg at Salient Quantitative Investment Management is building a diversified business based on a range of his proprietary quantitative models, which invest both in South African and offshore markets.

Mauritius-based Sustainable Capital has an eight-month track record with the Africa Sustainability Fund, the first sustainable investment fund focused on listed African equities. The team plans to launch a more active, concentrated fund towards year-end.

When I meet Peregrine Capital's David Fraser at his offices in Sandown, Johannesburg, he has just returned from three days in the Democratic Republic of Congo. One colleague is in China, the other is recently back from Australia.

"Right now there is 24-hour visibility," said Insparo's Mohammed Hanif from his London office in mid-June. "It is the first time since late 2008 that we have seen stress signals at the foundation of the markets. I don't think we have experienced as eventful a moment since the Lehman's demise."

African Alliance has just reached the three-year mark with its African Pioneer Fund, which invests purely in locally listed securities across Africa, excluding South Africa, in multiple asset classes.

Hanno van Aarde at EPI Trading has built a good track record with his Smooth Plus Fund, an innovative strategy investing in traded endowment policies, and is now opening the fund to external investors.

Old Mutual Investment Group (SA) (OMIGSA)'s Multi-Strategy Hedge Fund is well into its fourth year, offering a unique combination of private equity and hedge fund strategies in a portfolio that now offers enhanced monthly liquidity terms.

"Back in 2008 when we started our Africa fund, people were looking at the potential of Africa. Now it is very much a reality," says Tutu Agyare, head of Nubuke Investments.

Johannesburg-based Truffle Asset Management's White Truffle Fund has gained 13.98% in the three months since being rolled out to institutional investors on October 1.