SA’s largest asset manager, Ninety One, has increased its presence in the Middle East with offices opening in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the manager aims to make inroads in the two asset rich jurisdictions.
Ninety One founder and CEO Hendrik du Toit said despite not having scored “wins” yet in the Middle East, the company believed it was well positioned to be a player in that market.
“We are very excited about the Middle East. In the past year we have opened two offices in the region. Previously we had just conducted cross-border transactions. We have been running money for Middle East sovereigns for 20 years,” Du Toit said.
“What is changing is the development of a vibrant domestic market. There is stuff happening in the UAE, with people using that place as a platform from which to operate. In Saudi Arabia, there is a domestic revolution with the release of women in the workforce and a robust GDP growth,” he said.
“Where Ninety One is really interested is the UAE, which has significant investments across the African continent and is at a scale where appropriate partnerships can become lucrative. For us it is a story of future growth.”
Investec, which holds a stake in Ninety One, last year set up a base in Dubai, targeting thousands of wealthy South Africans living in the UAE. The Anglo-SA group opened an office at the Dubai International Financial Centre, which connects high net-worth clients, family offices and financial institutions in the Gulf Co-operation Council. The centre is home to more than 6,000 companies, including about 230 banks, and dozens of the world’s leading wealth and asset managers.
Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) has previously said it expected the purchase of a large stake in Zambia’s Mopani copper mine by Abu Dhabi’s International Resources Holding (IRH) to herald the beginning of state companies from the Middle East investing in African commodities. This is as sovereign wealth funds and other asset allocators aligned to governments look to diversify their income streams from oil.
IRH outbid Sibanye-Stillwater to seize a controlling 51% stake in Mopani Copper Mine, in a deal worth $1.1bn.
IRH is a subsidiary of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE’s) most valuable listed company, International Holdings Company (IHC), which has a market value of about $240bn. IHC is chaired by a member of the ruling family, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan.
In 2023, Al-Nahyan, who is also the UAE’s national security adviser and deputy ruler, was appointed chair of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the main sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s capital. It is said to manage assets north of $800bn.
The Public Investment Corporation in October signed a memorandum of agreement with IRH, in a bid to improve the efficiency of SA mining operations. The strategic collaboration could boost economic growth, job creation and sustainable development by bringing the IRH’s extensive technical and financial expertise to key constraints on the local mining industry.
The UAE’s largest bank by assets, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), is pursuing a trademark in SA. Formed from the merger of National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank in 2017, FAB is about half owned by sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment and members of the emirate’s ruling family.
Mubadala, which has $276bn in assets under management, owns 37.9% of FAB, and the Abu Dhabi ruling family has a 15.8% stake in the lender.
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