On September 27 2017 the Daily Maverick hosted the first of what was expected to be two 10X-sponsored debates discussing whether active or passive fund management delivers a better outcome for South African retirement savers.
Coronation fund manager Neville Chester and 10X Investments chief executive Steven Nathan debated the topic in a packed hall at the Centre for the Book in Cape Town. There were opportunities for the audience to cast votes on specific issues during the debate, which was wrapped up by a lively question and answer session.
Fired up by lots of feedback after the event, the Daily Maverick set about trying to secure a candidate from one of the big life companies for a similar debate pencilled in for late January in Johannesburg.
Networks were leveraged, favours were called in, arms were twisted, but no one from the South African active fund management industry, it seems, was prepared to stand up in public and defend their formulas and fees. The silence of this industry, the caretakers of more than a trillion rand of retirement savers’ money, speaks volumes.
It seems that there is much that the industry doesn’t want to talk about, or worse, wants to keep quiet. Clearly, there are some very big elephants in the room in the retirement industry.
Still, Maverick and 10X – both disruptors of the comfy, traditional elite in their own industries – had promised to advance this discussion, and advance it we will.
Some think the debate over active versus passive fund management is just theory, that it will never affect the ordinary person’s life. But, as with the ‘junking’ of South Africa’s sovereign debt, the consequences are likely to be felt for a long time into the future.
Zack Bezuidenhoudt, head of client coverage for Sub-Saharan Africa at S&P Dow Jones Indices, is a man who knows a lot about both issues. In the absence of an active fund manager, 10X has invited him to join Nathan in a public discussion about these issues, in Johannesburg, on January 30.
Bezuidenhoudt – who is a veteran of Old Mutual Investment Group, Alexander Forbes Asset Consultants and Absa Asset Consultants – works with existing and prospective S&P clients to deepen their knowledge of indices and benchmarks as well as to better understand their future indexing needs.
Steven Nathan, founder of 10X Investments, was a pioneer of multi-asset index funds in South Africa. The former Managing Director of Deutsche Bank in Johannesburg and London, Steven spent more than 10 years in equity research and corporate finance and was consistently the top-rated Banks and Life Insurance analyst in South Africa as well as best overall analyst in SA and Emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa.
The third panellist, local comedian Siv Ngesi, is known for not having a stomach for bullshit. Siv has his own reasons for wanting to call out the elephants in the room, and his no-nonsense style is certain to give this discussion a unique slant and make it very accessible.
Ensuring that the audience goes away with a much deeper understanding of the issues will be a priority of local media personality and businessman Africa Melane, who will be moderating the discussion. He and Siv will be dedicated to helping Nathan and Bezuidenhoudt keep it real.
The Real Money Fight#2: the Elephant In The Room will take place at Bowman’s auditorium, 11 Alice Lane in Sandton, in the early evening on Tuesday January 30. For more information or to register to attend the event please mail events@dailymaverick.co.za.
