Stanlib ropes in big guns

Johannesburg - Embattled asset management firm Stanlib has gone on the offensive by cherry-picking top talent from competitors in an attempt to repair its damaged image.

On Wednesday Stanlib confirmed it had appointed Stewart Rider, Patrick Mamathuba, Kate Rushton, Andrew Vintcent and Shawn Stockigt to key positions in its investment team.

This comes in the wake of mounting criticism of Stanlib's underperformance and the knock-on effect this is having on its broker network, which was hard hit last year.

Rider has been acting chief investment officer since October 2009; his appointment has now been confirmed.

Andrew Vintcent has moved from RMB Asset Management to head of research for Stanlib. He replaces Nigel Mackenzie.

The highly-rated Rushton has been taken from Absa Capital to head up credit research for the fixed-income portfolios, which have been a good performer for Stanlib over the past two years.

The appointment likely to be the most closely watched is that of Shawn Stockigt, who moves from Achelon Capital. Stockigt is regarded as one of South Africa's leading small-cap analysts and has been entrusted with managing the small- and medium-sized share portfolios.

In December, Stanlib poached the highly-rated Thabo Dloti from Old Mutual Investment Group SA (Omigsa) to take on the chief executive role. The appointment has been viewed as positive by market commentators.

Stanlib has recently been lambasted in the press for the lacklustre performance of its funds, especially after its small-cap portfolio lost 60% in 2008.

Asked about his priorities for Stanlib, Rider said: "Investment experience and depth are the cornerstones of any successful third-party management business. It is up to me to make sure that our experienced team focuses on what is important."

- Fin24.com