Manager Research

Following the tragic passing of Simon Marais (Chairman and ex Chief Investment Officer) in February 2015, Allan Gray announced on Friday that Ian Liddle will be taking over as Chairman with immediate effect.  Ian will continue in his role as CIO until March 2016 when Andrew Lapping will take over as CIO, having been made deputy CIO with immediate effect.

Allan Gray manage their portfolios on a multi-counsellor basis , so Andrew already manages a material slice of the equity, asset allocation and bond portfolios.  We hold Andrew in high regard and believe he will be a very capable CIO of the business.  Our understanding is that Ian will no longer manage any portion of the portfolios from March, so his slice will in all likelihood be allocated between the other three Portfolio Managers (Andrew, Duncan Artus and Simon Raubenheimer) and the three associate Portfolio Managers (Jacques Plaut, Ruan Stander and Leonard Kruger).

One of the key contributors to Allan Gray’s success over the years has been the way in which new members of the investment team are shaped and mentored in the Allan Gray way of investing.  While the team is made up of quite different personalities, their investment philosophies and the process followed is very consistent.  Therefore, we do not expect any significant changes as a result of Ian leaving behind his portfolio management responsibilities in March next year.

We do have some questions regarding the changes, including the extent of Andrew’s responsibilities with him adding the CIO duties to his existing roles (including looking after their Africa ex-SA portfolios which he is clearly passionate about), which we will assess closer to the transition as the roles are more clearly defined.