Anthony Leatham

Investec was founded as a leasing company in Johannesburg in 1974, acquired a banking licence in 1980, and was listed on the JSE Limited in 1986. Investec is organized into five divisions: Private Client Activities, Treasury and Specialised Finance, Investment Banking, Asset Management, and Property Activities. Its core activities are offered in the UK and South Africa, with select activities offered in Australia.Investec Asset Management manages about $2 billion in client assets. The firm acts as a full discretionary asset manager for some of its clients and also acts as an advisor for other clients, making investment recommendations but not making the final decisions.Clients invest in hedge funds, funds of funds, long-only funds, real estate funds and private equity funds (to a limited extent). The firm's clients at any time may be investing 0-50% of their portfolios into alternatives as Investec creates model portfolios based on risk appetite. A growth portfolio has a 50% allocation to alternatives, a balanced has 40%, a cautious has 25%, and conservative has 15%.Investec is looking to increase its hedge fund and long-only offerings to its clients but is not looking for additional private equity or real estate managers at this time. The firm has a small and focused private equity portfolio and is comfortable with its existing relationships.