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4 — Daily Dispatch, Monday, April 18, 2005
043 702-2168/2239
NATIONAL FINANCIAL BROKERS
NFB’s 20 year bull run The NFB Financial Services Group turns 20 years old this year and reflects on how far the company, and more specifically its East London operation, has come since it was first established in 1985, its achievements and where it plans to go in the next 20 years. hen NFB advise their clients to “invest for the long-term”, it’s certainly not just an investment catch-phrase used loosely; they plan to be around every step of the way, guiding their clients through the unknown future that lies ahead. And with 20 years of service excellence and a track record of impeccable investment advice behind them, they have proved that they're in it for the long haul. NFB has quietly established itself over the past 20 years as one of the country's leading broad-spectrum financial services groups, operating specifically in the provision of independent and objective investment and insurance advice, products and services. NFB has been recognised as one of South Africa's Top 20 Non Listed Companies for three successive years in the South African Non-Listed Company Award, judged by leading auditors, the Wits Business
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School professors and the senior editorial team from the Business Day. Originally established in April 1985 in Port Elizabeth, NFB opened its East London and Johannesburg branches in 1986 and 1987 respectively. Starting from humble beginnings East London only had one investment advisor manning the local branch. Since then the operation has grown to a healthy staff compliment of 44 highly trained and dedicated individuals, with the core investment business managing in excess of R2 billion. The late 90’s recorded the beginning of several defining moments for NFB East London as the foundations were laid for the inevitable future successes of the organisation. The Year 1997 saw the birth of NFB Insurance Brokers, NFB's short term insurance specialist business. This successful venture has resulted in a business of 10 staff members, man-
aging the risk insurance of 1500 clients with a combined annual premium of over R20 million. In 1998, NFB's Healthcare and Employee Benefits Divisions opened their doors to enable them to offer their clients specialised advice over the a broad spectrum of financial services. Both these divisions have operated profitably and have proved successful in their niche markets. The last two divisions to open their doors to clients were NFB Portfolio Management Services in 2000 and NFB Asset Management in 2002. NFB Portfolio Management Services specialises in the management of personal share portfolios. The division has been highly successful, launching a range of various products using various listed investment instruments underlying the investment portfolio. These portfolios have proved to be unique in the South African financial services sector and the
very attractive feature of each portfolio being individually customised to suit the individual investor's appetite for risk (or lack thereof) as opposed to the concept of pooling funds has been part of the reason for the success of this portion of the business. The pooling concept is used by life assurors and unit trust management companies and although has advantages, clients can, in some circumstances, be negatively affected by inflows and outflows of funds from the portfolios. A hugely successful investment vehicle launched by NFB Portfolio Management Services was the NFB Managed Income Portfolio catering particularly for the lower risk appetite investor needing a reliable, yet above average, income source. Assets under management for the division has seen exceptional growth and it currently manages R335 million of client funds. NFB Asset Management
on the other hand, catering for the retail market, offers 6 local and 2 offshore actively managed risk profiled investment funds to suit the risk profile of the investor. Using a highly sophisticated and extremely closely monitored quantitative model combined with ongoing stringent qualitative monitoring by a highly qualified 9-person committee, the funds have consistently outperformed both their peers and their benchmarks since the launch of the offshore funds in 2002 and the local funds in 2003. As a result of the success of these funds, NFB Asset Management has accumulated assets under management in excess of half a billion Rand in less than three years! Simultaneous to the growth in NFB explained above, the company's core business of providing financial and investment solutions to their clients has also continued to thrive and develop as a result of the emphasis placed on
objectivity, transparency, ethics and delivering world class and excellent service to clients. And in a city like East London where service excellence is often lacking, NFB prides itself in not keeping with the local tradition, but rather in always staying a few steps ahead of competitors and in maintaining an honest an open door relationship with clients at all times. NFB's focus over the past several years has been the development of a team of people and the technology to back them, allowing the company to deliver on the promises of a world class brand. In the past two years, in excess of a quarter of a million Rand has been spent developing an in-house client and investment administration system. This, a first of its kind in South Africa, allows the company the to, amongst other things, gain in depth understanding of its client base, closely monitor investor investments and portfolio performance, track fees, manage client appointments and relationships, monitor accounting aspects and track staff workflow. In addition, a great deal has been spent on staff training and development. All new trainee advisors hired are required to be degreed after which they still undergo a one year stringent training pro-