Manager Research

As previously communicated, Philip Liebenberg, the head of SIM’s Absolute Return team and the Portfolio Manager of the SIM Inflation Plus and SIM Active Income Funds, has resigned and will be joining ABAX.  We viewed this as a material change to the funds and spent time with members of the SIM team that will be looking after both funds.  Following the review, we have decided to change the ratings on both funds from a Tier 1 to a Tier 2. While the funds have been downgraded, Tier 2 is still a positive rating just with concerns due to changes that we would like to see unfold over time.             

For SIM Active Income fund, Melville du Plessis will now be managing the fund.  Melville works in the Fixed Interest team (the fund has moved out of the Absolute Return team) and is a portfolio manager on certain local bond funds as well as the SIM Enhanced Yield fund.  While Melville has a good track record in managing the SIM Enhanced Yield fund, we would want to see evidence of the ability to implement on this broader mandate.  We believe the loss of both Philip and prior to that the Head of Fixed Interest, Chris Hamman, may have a material impact and we would like to monitor how the fund is managed over the coming months.

The SIM Inflation Plus fund will be managed by Natascha Narsingh, who worked alongside Philip in the Absolute Return team.  They are not replacing Philip at this stage so Natascha will use Fred White and the multi asset team as a sounding board for now.  The other change is that the cash portion of the fund will now be outsourced to the Fixed Interest team.  We would want to see evidence that Natascha is able to implement independently and that the changes in personnel and process are embedded.

For both funds, the material change was to the team responsible for the funds, but there has also been a change to the business structure within SIM with the management of the life company assets and third party assets now split.  Going forward, they will be managed by separate teams with the aim of ensuring client focus.  In our view, this is a material change and will result in a period of uncertainty while the new arrangement is bedded down.  We will monitor the impact of the change closely over the coming year.