PROTEA CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
Protea Capital Management is an investment management firm domiciled in South Africa, investing globally. The firm follows a proprietary ‘quantamental’ investment approach, combining traditional fundamental analysis with quantitative investment techniques. Hedge fund AUM as at Q3 2023 is approximately R1.2 billion. The first Protea hedge fund available to the public was launched during 2016, followed by the launch of two additional Protea hedge funds in 2017. The Malta-domiciled Protea International Hedge Fund SICAV Plc was launched in 2022, offering investors the opportunity to invest in USD/EUR/GBP. This fund is approved by the FSCA under Section 65 of the Collective Investment Scheme Control Act for public sale in South Africa.
Investment Team:
The ‘quantamental’ investment approach is a ‘Man + Machine’ process which makes extensive use of automation, relying less on human judgment than traditional approaches. The portfolio manager is Jean Pierre Verster, who is also the founder of Protea Capital Management. He holds the CA(SA), CFA and CAIA designations. The rest of the investment team includes Dr Shinhye Chang (senior data scientist) and Richard Cheesman (senior analyst), who is a CFA charterholder
Investment terms
The Protea Worldwide Flexible FR Qualified Investor Hedge Fund
Retail or qualified product: Qualified
Hurdle rate: Three-month JIBAR
High-water mark: Yes
Fund open: Yes
Minimum investment: R1 million
Management fee: 1% p.a. (excl. VAT)
Performance fee: 20% (excl. VAT) of the total performance (after deducting the base management fee) above the high-water mark, subject to a hurdle rate of three-month JIBAR, crystallising annually on 31 December
Subscription: Monthly
Redemption: One calendar month
The Protea South Africa FR Retail Hedge Fund
Retail or qualified product: Retail
Hurdle rate: 3-month STeFI
High-water mark: Yes
Fund open: Yes
Minimum investment: R50,000 lump sum or R2,000 monthly
Management fee: 1% p.a. (excl. VAT)
Performance fee: 20% (excl. VAT of the excess performance (after deducting the base management fee) above the perpetually increasing hurdle
Subscription: Daily
Redemption: One day
The Protea Global FR Retail Hedge Fund
Retail or qualified product: Retail
Hurdle rate: 3-month STeFI
High-water mark: Yes
Fund open: Yes
Minimum investment: R50,000 lump sum or R2,000 monthly
Management fee: 1% p.a. (excl. VAT)
Performance fee: 20% (excl. VAT of the excess performance (after deducting the base management fee) above the perpetually increasing hurdle
Subscription: Daily
Redemption: One day
The Protea International Hedge Fund SICAV Plc
Retail or qualified product: Qualified (Professional Investor Fund under Maltese regulations)
High-water mark: Yes
Fund open: Yes
Minimum investment: USD/EUR/GBP 100,000
Investment Management fee: 1.25% p.a.
Performance fee: 20% of the total performance (after deductions of the annual base fee) above the high-water mark
Subscription frequency: Weekly
Redemption notice: One week
Strategy
All portfolios are managed as long/short equity hedge funds, but each has a distinct geographical focus. The Protea South Africa FR Retail Hedge Fund is focused on extracting alpha returns from the South African equity market, while the Protea Global FR Retail Hedge Fund and Protea International Hedge Fund SICAV Plc are focused on extracting alpha returns from global developed equity markets. The Protea Worldwide Flexible FR Qualified Investor Hedge Fund focuses on extracting alpha returns from equity markets worldwide. The core strategy is to be long undervalued equities and short overvalued equities, whilst ensuring that there is sufficient diversification to guard against inappropriate risk concentration.
Service providers
Prime broker: FirstRand Bank Limited trading as RMB Prime Broking and Absa Bank Ltd
Administrator: Apex Fund and Corporate Services (RF) (Pty) Ltd
Manco: FundRock Management Company (RF) Pty Ltd
Auditor: PriceWaterhouseCoopers (SA funds) and Mazars Malta
Contact details
Protea Capital Management (Pty) Ltd
Address: 7 Northridge Avenue, Sunnyridge, Germiston, 1401
CEO & fund manager: Jean Pierre Verster
Business development: Eldrich Jansen
Email: info@proteacapitalmanagement.com
Phone: +27 (0) 63 691 2091
Website: www.proteacapitalmanagement.com