Prescient Investment Management launches new Domestic Balanced Fund

Cape Town - Prescient Investment Management (Prescient), a leading active, systematic, and independent investment management company, is proud to announce the launch of its new Prescient Domestic Balanced Fund, seeded with an initial investment of R200 million.

The Fund has a number of unique characteristics including low-cost access to a variety of South African assets including equity, bonds, infrastructure, clean energy and both private and listed credit. With a headline fee structure of 45 basis points, the Fund delivers an actively managed product priced as a passively-managed offering.

The Fund is designed to provide South African investors with an opportunity to access a well-diversified portfolio focused on domestic assets. The Fund stands out by incorporating infrastructure, clean energy projects, and credit opportunities alongside traditional equity and debt holdings. This unique mix underscores Prescient’s dedication to aligning investment strategies with sustainable growth and development in the local economy as highlighted in the recently released 2024 Prescient Responsible Investing Report.

“Our mission has always been to combine insights and proven, predictable processes to create consistent outcomes for our clients. One of the obvious challenges in the market is that the investment universe on the JSE has been shrinking and investors are seeking alternative ways to participate in the economic recovery in South Africa. This Fund offers access not only to South African equities but a basket of assets that will benefit from South Africa’s economic recovery,” says Rupert Hare, Head of Multi-Asset portfolio at Prescient Investment Management.

As an active and systematic asset management firm, Prescient specialises in portfolio and risk management strategies that consistently deliver results. The company’s independent and client-centric philosophy ensures that investment decisions are driven by data-driven insights and market expertise rather than external influences.

By including infrastructure, clean energy and private credit in its portfolio, the Fund not only supports national priorities for sustainable development and energy security, but allows for exposure to sustainability-linked and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) mandates. Additionally, its focus on South African private credit offers investors exposure to opportunities in sectors that drive economic inclusivity and growth.

“As South Africa’s largest systematic asset management house, we are analysing over 170 million data points daily. This understanding of the macro-economic conditions allows us to build expertise in local asset classes which allows us to build models to extract significant alpha for our clients and gives us a competitive advantage in launching a new domestic fund, ” concludes Hare.