MIANZO ASSET MANAGEMENT
SMMEs AND LOWINCOME INVESTORS TO BENEFIT FROM
MIANZO’S TRANSFORMATION DRIVE
F
rom its humble beginnings, Mianzo Asset Management (Mianzo) has within 12 years grown into one of the formidable black-owned asset managers holding their own against strong competition from established players. Founded in 2010 by Luvo Tyandela, portfolio manager, who was subsequently joined by Thembeka Sobekwa, also a portfolio manager, Mianzo entered the asset management industry during a period the sector was relatively untransformed and overwhelmingly dominated by white-owned firms. Since those days, there has been transformation that has taken place but change is yet to tilt the balance in favour of black firms. In spite of this reality, Mianzo is among a growing number of black companies that are operating in the sector. The Cape Town-based company manages and invests about R12 billion on behalf of its clients, mainly institutional and retail investors. In terms of size of assets under management, Mianzo is ranked in the top 15 out of 51 black-owned asset management firms that exist in South Africa today. In 2009, there were only 14 blackowned asset managers that managed R91 billion. However, the number of black asset managers has since grown to 51 in 2020, managing about R668 billion (about 9% of total industry assets), according to the 2020 BEE. conomics survey.
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Municipal Focus
From its inception, Mianzo has always been a company characterised by humility even though driven by hugely ambitious founding members. Its name, ‘Mianzo’, means ‘new beginnings’ in Swahili and reflects its vision to create an investment business with the best people, state-of-the-art systems, and an enabling environment for its people to apply their minds when it came to investing. Even though the company was established immediately in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, it was determined to build an environment where its staff thrives both professionally and personally. Driven by this vision, the firm has evolved over its 12-year history to becoming a well-established asset manager with a wide client base and a diverse product offering. Its team has expanded to 15 professionals with varying backgrounds and experience,
all of whom are from previously disadvantaged groups. Mianzo’s investment team has combined experience of over 80 years, with three of the four portfolio managers each having experience of over 20 years. “The Financial Services Sector is very technical. It is important for us to play our part to transform this sector and empower the youth. One way we do this is through skills transfer. Our graduates gain practical relevant experience and knowledge transfer in core investing activities from experiences investment professionals,” explains Tyandela. The core team comprise of Tyandela, who is the head of the absolute return platform and Sobekwa, who was instrumental in setting up Mianzo’s platform and processes. As part of her responsibilities, she is managing some of Mianzo’s active equity portfolios and index-tracking funds.
