Manager Research

We have recently concluded our rating review of M&G South Africa’s fund range. Over the past six months, the business has undergone some meaningful changes with several senior leaders leaving the business, including CIO David Knee, Chief Client & Distribution Officer Pieter Hugo and CEO Chris Sickle. This does raise concerns for us about the future trajectory of the leadership team and how this might affect the broader culture.

With that being said, the business has navigated team changes successfully in the past. What gives us comfort is that on the investment side of the business, the team has remained relatively stable in recent years, which has allowed them to maintain institutional knowledge of the investment process.

This has led us to retain a Tier 2 rating across the funds that are rated, despite the three notable resignations. However, any further departure of key individuals in the investment team would require a review of the fund ratings.

A summary of the ratings is provided in the table that follows: