Offshore allocations remain high, a survey shows, but some local sectors look promising.

The 2023 Alexforbes Manager Watch Survey of retirement fund investment managers released this week shows that Ninety One remains the largest asset manager. A 6% increase in assets has solidified its position.

Stanlib retains second place with a 6% asset increase. Coronation attained the third spot with an 8% asset increase, and Allan Gray leapfrogged both Sanlam Investments and Old Mutual Investment Group to clinch the fourth spot.

Multimanager assets continue to grow as the shift from single-manager portfolios continues. In 2023, the total assets under management increased 12% to R7.8-trillion, with the top 10 managers collectively holding 62% of the total assets.

In the Global Best Investment View category, a significant portion of investment managers reflected high offshore allocations. Thirty-four out of 45 increased their global exposure to exceed a 30% allocation, and 11 out of 45 surpassed the 40% mark. Three managers reduced their global exposure and two maintained it at 2022 levels.

The best performer in this category was Abax Investments, which ended the year with a return of 17.3%. Abax noted that all asset classes contributed to the growth, although global equities contributed about half of the fund's total return.

The largest contributors at a stock...