Wednesday 05 September 2018 12:47 pm

Man Group buys Sanlam Four’s strategic bond business

Hedge fund manager Man Group has acquired Sanlam Four's strategic bond business and team.

Portfolio managers Craig Veysey and Francois Kotze will move the Sanlam Strategic Bond fund to Man Group's discretionary investment management arm GLG.

The top-performing fund, which was set up by Veysey when he joined Sanlam in 2009, seeks to invest in the best value global corporate and government bond opportunities with an emphasis on risk control.

Sanlam UK group chief executive Jonathan Polin said: “Our absolute priority is the safe stewardship of our clients’ assets and it is in their best interests to see the fund transition smoothly to Man GLG where it will be managed by the same team, to the same strategy and with the same process, methodologies and tools.

"This is not a decision we have taken lightly. Over the past two years we invested significant time and resources to marketing the fund successfully within the wealth management market, securing early adopters and substantial new fund flows.

"We will continue to bring on-board talented teams and give them the freedom to develop their investment strategy to deliver strong performance for our clients.”

Previously, Veysey managed global bond funds at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership and WestLB Mellon Asset Management, and also worked as part of the Global Fixed Income team at HSBC.

Assistant fund manager Kotze joined Sanlam last year from Rathbone Brothers, where he was part of the fixed income team.

“We are delighted to welcome Craig and Francois to Man GLG," Man GLG chief executive Teun Johnston said.

"Craig is a seasoned bond portfolio manager who, along with Francois, has developed a rigorous, repeatable investment process, which we believe offers a compelling proposition for our clients.

"We have a successful track record of hiring and integrating exceptional senior level talent and investment teams at Man GLG, and believe Craig and Francois’ expertise will be highly additive to our existing strategic bond offering and to Man GLG’s overall fixed income platform.”