South Africa’s largest asset managers revealed

Ninety One is South Africa’s largest asset manager with R909.93 billion in assets under management (AUM), followed by Stanlib with R804.42 billion and Coronation at R668.47 billion. 

This was revealed by Alexforbes in its annual Manager Watch survey, where the financial services firm ranks the largest asset managers and analyses trends in the broader industry. 

The survey aims to provide an overview of South Africa’s investment management landscape and has been conducted every year since 1994. 

Alexforbes analyses key statistics and findings across 30 surveys covering 15 balanced, 14 specialist and a multi-manager survey, alongside insights drawn from Alexforbes’ June 2025 Assets under Management survey.

This year’s survey revealed that multi-managers continue to gain share in South Africa, with major asset managers overhauling their offerings or launching their own competitors in this space. 

Old Mutual most notably rebranded its multi-manager offering to Symmetry, while Alexforbes and Sanlam continued to vie for position as South Africa’s largest multi-manager. 

In 2019, for every R1 managed by single managers, multi-managers held 15 cents. By 2025, this increased to 30 cents.

This growth in market share is impressive considering the strong growth of the overall asset management industry, which saw AUM grow by 14% year-on-year. 

The industry has been boosted by the JSE’s strong performance over the past 18 months, driven by a surge in precious metals prices and improving investor sentiment towards South Africa. 

Ninety One retained its position as the largest asset manager in the country, although the survey does not capture its full scale due to its focus on the assets of South African clients. 

The asset manager has a significant offering based primarily in the United Kingdom, where it manages assets on behalf of clients outside of South Africa. In total, Ninety One has over R3 trillion in AUM. 

Second-placed Stanlib showed strong growth year-on-year to reach R804.42 billion in AUM. The company continues to benefit from the reintegration of its parent company, Liberty, into the Standard Bank Group. 

This gives it the ability to sell products into the bank’s client base, giving it enviable distribution capabilities. 

Coronation displaced Sanlam Investment Managers (SIM) as the third-largest asset manager in the ranking with R668.48 billion in AUM. 

The asset manager benefited from its relatively high exposure to South African equities, with its AUM surging by 17% year-on-year. 

However, it should be noted that South Africa’s largest insurers have multiple asset managers under their umbrellas. The combined assets would place these companies among the largest investment managers in the country.

Sanlam, for example, has three asset managers in the top 20 largest in the country, with SIM, Sanlam Multi-Managers, and Satrix. Combined, their local assets are north of R1 trillion. 

Old Mutual has four asset managers in the top 20, with its combined assets being comparable to those of Sanlam’s unified offering. 

The table below shows the top ten largest asset managers in South Africa according to Alexforbes’ 2025 Manager Watch survey.