OUTsurance to buy stake in Grindrod-owned investment manager

Cape Town – OUTsurance will buy a 25% stake in passive investment manager CoreShares to boost its new investment arm OUTvest.

CoreShares, which did not disclose the purchase price as the transaction must first be approved by regulators, made the announcement on Monday. CoreShares is owned by GFS Holdings, which is owned by Grindrod [JSE:GND].

CoreShares focuses on the growth of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), smart beta or factor investing, advancements in financial technology, including robo advisors, and the growth in adoption of passive investing, while OUTvest is a digital automated advice business.

“Having worked closely with CoreShares over the last two years in the development of OUTvest and through direct balance sheet index investments, we believe CoreShares is poised to become a dominant player in the passive investment market and are grateful to have the opportunity to join them on their path to success,” said OUTsurance CEO Willem Roos.

“OUTsurance is a vibrant and successful brand that we are delighted to be partnering up with on our journey to building a contemporary, client-centric, asset management business,” said CoreShares MD Gareth Stobie.

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