Blue Chip Issue 86

BLUE
CHIP
On the money
Making waves this quarter
Regulations and a new range of model portfolios
RESTRAIN OR REACT: GREYLISTING IN SOUTH AFRICA
By Webber Wentzel
In 2019, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) red-flagged South
Africa for high levels of corruption. That means South Africa must
address its partial compliance or non-compliance with 20 of the
FATF’s “40 recommendations” by February 2023.
South Africa has taken various steps to tackle corruption. The
National Prosecuting Authority has enrolled cases, the Asset
Forfeiture Unit has frozen or granted preservation orders, the Special
Investigating Unit has instituted High Court cases and SARS has
launched investigations. South African banking institutions have
sound policies in place to combat terrorist financing. However,
many loopholes remain, and this
makes it urgent to enact the necessary
regulations in place and ensure
institutions have appropriate systems
in place.
Webber Wentzel will be conducting
sessions on the implications of
greylisting by the FATF for South Africa
with our financial and corporate clients
to address these issues.
MITONOPTIMAL LAUNCHES HEDGE FUND MODEL PORTFOLIOS
We are extremely excited to launch our much-awaited ASTUTE range
of model portfolios, containing only absolute return funds and hedge
funds. We saw a gap in the market for these types of investments due to
their ability to limit the downside in market drawdowns, but still benefit
from risk asset exposure. Our range includes:
• MitonOptimal ASTUTE Guarded Model. Focused on capital
preservation while targeting a total return of CPI +4% after all fees. This
model was created with the living annuity market in mind, especially
those clients in the early years of retirement, where “sequence-ofreturns”
risk is at its highest.
• MitonOptimal ASTUTE Bold Model. Focused on
capital appreciation and looking to benefit from the
underlying managers’ best ideas. This model will
target all-out risk and is not for the faint-hearted.
Due to Reg 28 restrictions, these products will only
be available in discretionary products, endowments
and living annuities.
For more information on the range, please contact
george@mitonoptimal.com.
MitonOptimal South Africa (Pty) Limited is an Authorised Financial Services Provider License No. 28160 regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). Registration No. 2005/032750/07.
Jacques de Kock,
Quantitative Analyst
and Portfolio Manager,
MitonOptimal
IT TAKES A TSUNAMI
As a child, an intense interest in property meant that Rael Levitt
was early in the game. A chance encounter as a teenager led
him to his first auction that ignited a fervent passion. By 17, he
regularly attended property auctions and at 20, he had bought
and sold 20 bank-foreclosed houses. While studying law at
UCT, Levitt launched an auction company from the canteen,
which changed the face of auctioneering in South Africa. His
company, Auction Alliance, transformed the industry, bringing
glamourised high-profile sales to the public eye.
In 2004, Levitt was caught in the historic tsunami that claimed so many
lives in Thailand. Seven years later, he faced a different kind of tsunami that
destroyed his reputation. The Quoin Rock Wine Estate auction was the
last time Levitt ascended the auction podium. The wine estate, belonging
to billionaire Dave King, was being bid on by Wendy Applebaum,
the country’s wealthiest woman. The series of mistakes Levitt made
following the auction would herald Auction Alliance’s rapid demise.
Levitt became a subject of “trial by media” in the court of public opinion
– later cleared of wrongdoing by the country’s courts. A decade later,
Levitt reflects on the lessons he has learnt. In the wake of his last-ever
auction, he built a successful new property business, Inospace, which
has become the largest owner and operator of logistics parks in South
Africa, having grown into a R3-billion company.
It takes a tsunami is a riveting read that incorporates the story of one
of the biggest property scandals of recent times into a deep reflection
on failure and fallibility – and what it takes to survive and bounce back.
Available at bookstores nationwide or www.ittakesatsunami.com.