South Africa’s largest asset managers

Ninety One is the largest asset manager in South Africa, followed by Stanlib, Coronation, and Allan Gray. 

This was revealed in the 2023 Alexforbes Manager Watch Annual Survey, where the country’s largest asset managers were listed and investment trends outlined. 

The Alexforbes survey of retirement fund investment managers showcases the performance of institutional fund managers in South Africa.

It ranks the largest and best asset managers and gives other information, including their respective BBBEE ratings.

The Alexforbes Manager Watch has tracked the retirement fund investment management industry since the dawn of democracy in South Africa.

The survey provides a key reference point to all South African retirement funding industry stakeholders.

In the 2023 edition, Alexforbes produced specific feature articles that focused on trends impacting South African asset managers. 

These trends included artificial intelligence, financial education, and the massive changes to South Africa’s retirement system with the implementation of the new two-pot retirement system. 

Head of investment consulting at Alexforbes, Janina Slawski, said the industry has proven resilient despite the lacklustre economic growth in South Africa over the past few years. 

Slawski did note that many South African investors are shifting significant portions of their investments offshore into dollar holdings to protect their savings from rand depreciation. 

This presents a risk to the local asset managers who do not offer offshore portfolios as they will effectively lose assets under management from investors taking their money out of the country. 

Assets managers have continued to grow over the past decade from R3.3 trillion under management in 2012 to R7.76 trillion at the end of June 2023. 

Ninety One consolidated its position as the largest asset manager in South Africa, growing its assets under management by 6%. 

Allan Gray showed strong growth, leapfrogging both Sanlam Investment Managers and Old Mutual Investment Group to take third place behind Stanlib. 

The survey from Alexforbes does not include the Public Investment Corporation as it is a government entity. It has around R2.9 trillion in assets under management, making it the largest asset manager in the country. 

It must also be noted that the survey focuses on assets under management for South African clients only, so it does not include assets managed on behalf of clients from other countries. 

The top 20 largest asset managers are listed in the table below.