Manager Research

We recently completed our reviews of the Camissa Global Equity and Islamic Global Equity funds and have rated both funds Tier 3.  

Camissa is a long-standing independent asset management business with a fund range spanning from local multi-asset to global equity. We have and continue to rate the business highly given its investment centric nature and strong sense of autonomy.

Camissa’s global equity fund range was launched in 2018, although the manager has been investing in global equities for some time and these holdings have been features in the local multi-asset and equity fund range.

Broadly speaking, the investment philosophy implemented globally is similar to the local philosophy in that there is clearly a strong valuation underpin that drives investment decisions across both markets.

On the whole, both funds are managed by a skilled team of investors that we rate highly. In addition to the broad consistency that we see in their investment philosophy, we are also comfortable that the depth of research the team is conducting is sufficient even though they come from an SA-centric background.

However, where we struggled to gain the required level of confidence for a Tier 1 or Tier 2 rating was in the ability of the funds to add consistent value going forward. It is important to note that we do believe Camissa is still in the process of developing their global equity expertise and all the right hallmarks have been put in place to build a globally competitive offering. However, as it currently stands, we struggle to gain comfort that these two funds will add value over their respective benchmarks through time.

We expect them to make positive progress in future with respect to investment research and portfolios which requires more demonstration of skill and competency when compared with South African mandates given the larger opportunity set.