Sanlam and Absa have officially formed South Africa's largest black-owned asset manager

Sanlam and Absa have officially joined forces to form South Africa’s largest black-owned asset manager. In October 2021, the two companies announced their intention to merge to form an asset management firm second only to Ninety One in size.

The combined assets of Sanlam Investments and Absa Investments – which included Absa Asset Management, Absa Alternative Asset Management, Absa Fund Managers, and Absa Multi-Management – will exceed R1 trillion.

On Thursday, the two companies announced that they had fulfilled all of the requirements, allowing them to officially launch the new asset management venture, Sanlam Investment Holdings Proprietary Limited (SIH), on December 1.

All of their investment management businesses in South Africa were combined by the two. Absa Investments purchased a stake in SIH. Absa also signed a 10-year distribution deal with SIH. This means that the new asset management firm will leverage both the Sanlam and distribution networks to reach far more clients than they could individually. They also stated that working as a team of two financial behemoths will allow them to offer a more comprehensive range of investment solutions to the market.

“Sanlam and Absa clients will gain from the enhanced investment offering. This partnership will allow us to deliver investment solutions that sustain future generations,” said Sanlam Investment Group CEO, Carl Roothman.

He believes that SIH’s size will position the company as the preferred provider of investment solutions in South Africa.