Allan Gray, Ninety One, and Old Mutual reign supreme

Allan Gray has the strongest brand among South African investors, followed by Ninety One, Old Mutual, Sanlam, Coronation, and Alexander Forbes.

Futuregrowth, Foord, and Ashburton have the worst brand awareness, which may point to an ineffective marketing strategy.

These were some of the findings in Daily Investor’s 2024 South African Investor and Banking Report, based on responses from 2,013 South African retail and institutional investors.

The survey was conducted in January 2024, and most respondents were high-income earners and high-net-worth individuals.

The results revealed that Allan Gray has the strongest brand among large asset managers.

32% of South African investors said they would choose them if they had to invest money with an asset manager today. This is slightly down from the 34% a year ago.

Ninety One ranked second, followed by Old Mutual, Sanlam, and Coronation. Alexander Forbes, which showed strong growth in brand awareness, ranked sixth.

All these top firms have aggressive marketing strategies to make them trusted household names among South Africans.

This is necessary to build confidence in their brand and ensure investors feel they can be trusted with their money.

With investment safety gaining importance, large firms have a significant advantage over lesser-known brands.

Lower brand awareness is typically a sign of ineffective marketing. These firms do not have a strong presence on media platforms where South African investors congregate.

The chart below provides an overview of the brand awareness of South Africa’s large asset managers.

Boutique wealth managers

Brenthurst extended its lead in the smaller wealth manager category, becoming a household name among many investors.

Its performance was bolstered by an effective marketing strategy and the high profile of its co-founder, Magnus Heystek.

The company has a strong media and social media presence, with a good blend of sponsored and organic content.

10X Investments finished second in the boutique wealth manager category, followed by Efficient Wealth in third place.

Efficient Wealth has grown strongly since last year, mainly driven by its chief economist, Dawie Roodt’s strong media presence and honest views on the South African economy.

Roodt is a trusted source of financial information, which lifts Efficient Wealth’s brand awareness.

Although smaller South African wealth managers don’t have the same marketing budgets as the big firms, they have effectively used cost-effective online channels to lift their profiles.

Brenthurst, 10X Investments, and Efficient Wealth are great examples of effective marketing.