African asset manager, STANLIB, and its holding company, Liberty Holdings Limited, have acquired 100% shareholding in Stanbic Investment Management Services (SIMS) Ghana.

The company will continue to be led by its CEO, Alex Asiedu, and his team of experienced, local investment professionals.

 “The business is well-established and has a solid reputation in the market.  We are confident that our team of experienced professionals can leverage the global capabilities of a leading investment management firm like Stanlib”, Alex Asiedu assured.

 “SIMS Ghana will maintain its reputation for investment excellence and continue to build long-term relationships with customers.

 As we further build our presence across Africa, our goal remains to create innovative, locally relevant investment solutions, and to partner with customers to sustainably grow their investments.

We want to be the chosen investment destination in Africa,” said STANLIB CEO, Seelan Gobalsamy.

The acquisition extends STANLIB’s footprint in Africa – the asset manager now has a physical presence in eight African countries outside South Africa. Its Southern African reach spans Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana and Swaziland.

In the East, it has offices in Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan; and Ghana now marks its first foray into West Africa. After entrenching its presence here, it plans to expand into Nigeria.

The Ghanaian asset management industry displays strong growth potential driven by a strong economy – it has been one of the fastest growing economies over the last 5 years, at over 8% p.a. (forecast circa 5-7% p.a.), and concurrent pension reform. The country’s asset management market size is valued at approximately USD2bn. 

 Pensions constitute approximately 70% of the market, and this is expected to grow at 35% per annum due to the new regulatory regime.

The acquisition means the Accra-based asset manager is able to tap into the vast experience that STANLIB Africa has built across the continent over the years (its history in Africa dates back to 1998) while STANLIB Africa also gains from the local firm’s solid reputation and strong institutional client base.

Plans are underway to broaden its services and offer more tailored solutions specially designed for the Ghanaian market, including Alternatives.

These would include direct property, infrastructure and private equity, where SIMS would leverage off STANLIB South Africa’s established Franchises who have strong networks across Africa.

Currently, SIMS traditional products – including money market, fixed income (bonds), equities and multi-asset funds (pension and provident funds) – to its predominantly institutional client base.

Under STANLIB’s helm, efforts will be made to increase its retail investor base, where there are significant untapped growth opportunities.

Overall, Ghana displays compelling opportunities, and STANLIB is hoping to contribute to building a culture of saving and investing in the West African nation.

Per capita GDP has nearly doubled from $900 to $1500 for the past 6 years up until the end of 2012, and is expected to more than double again by 2020.

In addition to an increasing disposable income, Government is also transforming the investment landscape.

New pension reform was implemented in 2010, which has seen a marked growth of private pension schemes; owing to compulsory pension contributions of 5% and voluntary contributions of up to 16.5% of payroll.

As a result, the local asset management industry has been growing at over 30% p.a. over the past 5 years.

“Although we are domiciled in South Africa, STANLIB is now a truly African asset manager. From an investment perspective, all of our offices across the continent operate with the same DNA, and Ghana will be no different.

Our processes and philosophies are consistently applied to ensure our focus on investment excellence is the same across the continent, while we are steadfast in ensuring that local people run our operations to ensure they are locally relevant”, STANLIB Africa Managing Director, Ben Kodisang, established.