The annual Raging Bull Awards ceremony, the “Oscars” of the investment industry, takes place on Monday, February 17, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Picture: Ian Landsberg, Independent Newspaper.
The annual Raging Bull Awards ceremony, the “Oscars” of the investment industry, takes place on Monday, February 17, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The event, a sumptuous gala dinner, is hosted by Personal Finance and Business Report in association with data providers Iress South Africa and the Apex Group. The event is sponsored by the JSE.
The awards celebrate outstanding performance to the end of 2024 of collective investment schemes marketed by South African asset managers. In a change in format from previous years, there will be no awards for foreign investment companies – the focus is on the local industry.
Award categories
The award categories have been simplified into certificates for straight performance and trophies for risk-adjusted performance. The certificates, reduced to 19, recognise straight performance over three years in categories that correspond closely with fund sub-categories in the new fund classification standard of the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa. The more prestigious trophies recognise the best funds on risk-adjusted performance over five years in eight broad geographical and asset-class categories.
In another departure from previous years, the awards are now open to passively managed unit trusts and exchange traded funds. While these funds, by their nature, do not aim to outperform a benchmark and their underlying allocations do not depend on the investment skills of a portfolio manager, they are an integral part of the investment landscape and regularly outperform actively managed funds.
The highlight of the evening will be the awarding of a trophy for the South African Manager of the Year and a certificate for the runner-up. Managers are rated on their four top-performing funds in the eight risk-adjusted categories, with no two or more funds in the same category.
Data partners
Iress South Africa is part of an international group based in Melbourne, Australia, that provides market data and wealth management software to the financial services industry. More than 12 000 institutional, retail and online traders around the world use Iress's trading and market data software to connect across multiple markets, monitor and manage risk, access end-to-end trading support and deliver better performance. The software is widely used by buy-side firms – those that buy securities on behalf of investors, such as asset managers – and sell-side firms, which facilitate selling transactions, such as investment banks. Today, Iress serves all institutional sell-side firms and the majority of buy-side firms in South Africa.
Established in Bermuda in 2003, the Apex Group has continually disrupted the asset servicing industry through its investment in innovation and talent. Apex Group offers a broad range of services, including capital raising, business and corporate management, fund and investor administration, portfolio and investment administration, ESG, capital markets and transactions support. These services are tailored to each client and are delivered both at the group level and via specialist subsidiary brands. The group harnesses leading innovative technology, and benefits from cross-jurisdictional expertise delivered by a long-standing management team and over 13 000 highly integrated professionals.
Souvenir supplement
Later in the month, Personal Finance will publish a souvenir pull-out tabloid supplement covering the Raging Bull Awards, listing all the winners and including interviews with winning fund managers. To advertise in the supplement, email Tony Malek: tony.malek@inl.co.za
• Hesse is a former editor of Personal Finance and has acted as consultant in planning the 2025 Raging Bull Awards.
PERSONAL FINANCE