The one that tells it all

Candice Paine, head of retail at Sanlam Investment Management (SIM), oversees the unit trust range. She makes sure products are properly positioned and priced to ensure that they are what the market needs. She also needs to translate into layman's terms the aims of each fund and SIM's investment positioning and views to clients, the distribution team, the media and other stakeholders.

Before joining SIM in November 2008, Paine had been head of research at Sanlam's linked product business Glacier for three years. This unit focuses solely on unit trust research, highlighting the benefits and pitfalls of products to financial intermediaries.

There has certainly been progress in the retail market. Market share has increased since 2007. SIM's net flows into unit trust funds have increased from R1,29bn in 2008 to R3,22bn in 2010. One reason for this has been increased focus. SIM's core fund range allows intermediaries to easily choose funds that have a role in the financial planning process.

"We have legacy funds such as our industrial fund which is a top performing unit trust, but there is limited demand for the fund as few financial advisers want to choose between sectors. Very focused funds like a pure bond fund attract less interest as they are not viewed as a 'solution' fund," says Paine.

There has been demand for funds that buy into a range of SIM's unit trusts on behalf of the client, following a strategic asset allocation. These are SIM's managed solutions range of five risk profiled funds managed by SIM chief investment officer Gerhard Cruywagen.

Paine says that SIM remains committed to intermediated sales. All SIM's unit trusts are available through the Internet, though SIM always recommends consulting a financial adviser.

"We did extensive research and found investment products are a complex purchase for most people and we believe that they are much better served through our distribution platform. With a sharpened focus and its footprint of Sanlam agents and Sanlam accredited brokers, we do expect to gain a higher market share of unit trusts.

"We have also seen strong interest in our smart beta funds managed by the sim.smartcore team. Some specialist intermediaries have requested an equally weighted Top 40 portfolio. The product has a compelling fee and a low correlation with the broader market. sim.smartcore is able to replicate styles that are distinct from SIM's pragmatic value philosophy," she says.

For those focused purely on yield, SIM has a range of five funds. Money Market is the most conservative, followed by the Absolute Return Income, Active Income, Inflation Plus and Property funds.

SIM has an opportunity to increase market share significantly as it has a solid track record in all single asset classes and as a multi-asset class manager. Also, the recognition of the quality of a number of its managers counts.

Source: Financial Mail