Why?
We believe investors need to be better informed to achieve the best risk-adjusted returns.
How?
We profile the best fund managers and distribute content that also satisfies regulatory requirements (CPD).
What?
We provide a layer of due diligence for investors and ensure financial professionals remain Fit & Proper.
Our content is FREE, supporting economic transformation and financial literacy.
Benefits to our community:
How do we earn our fees?
Our library of investment research is freely accessible, thanks to the supporting asset managers. Financial professionals requiring CPD points pay a nominal fee for our digital infrastructure which saves money and time, simplifying regulation, delivering content to your phone, tablet or PC.
BLACK ONYX is an authorised FSP (47701)
and accredited CPD provider.
BLACK ONYX is an authorised FSP (47701) and accredited CPD provider.
Director (KI): Andrew Ludwig
Financial Service Provider: 47701
Having worked with alternative investments since 2008, BLACK ONYX was established in 2015 as an alternatives consultancy and has since evolved to become an advisory, distribution specialist and RegTech provider. Please refer to FUND HUB for more detail.
As a distribution consultancy and alternative investment advisory, we partner with award-winning asset managers (traditional, passive, boutique & alternative), and generate high-quality video content for financial professionals (independent & institutional) and individual investors who wish to be better informed and remain digitally connected to the investable universe.
Our digital solution assists the asset managers’ distribution function and financial professionals’ regulatory requirements (CPD), while our content is complimentary, supporting economic transformation and financial literacy. Click here to learn more.
BLACK ONYX is a registered Financial Services Provider (47701) regulated by the FSCA (formerly the FSB), endorsed by the FIA (Financial Intermediaries Association of South Africa) and CPD accredited by the IOBSA (Institute of Bankers) and the FPI (Financial Planning Institute of South Africa). I am a member of IASSA (The Investments Analysts Society of South Africa).
Patrick Cooper
Business Development at Coupland Cardiff Asset Management.
I have known Andrew for many years as an investment professional and investor in hedge funds and alpha strategies. He has a wide knowledge of investment markets and investment funds in general. He is a great communicator and very professional in his approach.
Nicholas Jeffrey
MD at Geneva Management Group (RSA).
Andrew has been involved with our firm for many years. He has a wealth of knowledge in the alternatives space both locally and abroad.
Warren Buys
Director at Florin Capital Management.
Andrew’s enthusiasm for alternatives is matched by his professionalism and astute level of service.
As a South African investor, you have access to FSB regulated boutique asset managers, which also include private equity, hedge funds and cost effective CIS structures. These award winning portfolios rely on carefully selected boutique asset managers who contribute to a range of diversified investment strategies (Long-Short Equity, Long Only Equity, Fixed Income and Multi Asset).
Highly experienced teams manage an optimal blend of uncorrelated strategies, maximising risk-adjusted returns and reducing poor individual investment decisions. In turn they are each overseen by a regulated institution whose focus is low-volatility and efficient fund structures. This doesn’t necessarily suggest layers of unwarranted fees, as it does layers of insurance.
Allocations to investment strategies constantly change as macro-economic sentiment ebbs and flows. Given the extent to which the current bull cycle has run, sophisticated investors are looking towards the alternatives to reinvest profits and position themselves for volatility which is the new norm.
Integrating alternatives strategies like private equity, hedge funds, structured products reduces your over portfolio risk through diversification, while still remaining invested in traditional and passive asset classes.
Redemptions can become very costly over time and our preferred structures address this. BLACK ONYX represents investment managers who will reduce your overall investment costs with sophisticated portfolio construction. Contact us here for more detail.
As of the 1st of June 2018, many South African financial professionals will be required to earn CPD points to remain “Fit & Proper” (FAIS Act). This affects Key Individuals, Representatives and those under supervision. Click here for more detail. Various professional bodies that support CAs, CFAs, stockbrokers, actuaries, tax consultants, pension and retirements funds to name a few, are also subjected to their own CPD requirements. Please refer to FUND HUB for more detail on our digital solution for all financial professionals.
Download the complimentary
10-part series.
Earn 2 FREE CPD Points
BLACK ONYX is an authorised FSP (47701)
and accredited CPD provider.
BLACK ONYX collaborates with 30+ carefully selected local boutique asset managers, who have undergone multiple layers of independent and institutional due diligence. These managers are selected from a universe of over 1700 local unit trusts (including 300 regulated hedge funds), based on their exemplary performance and approach to risk. In turn, these diverse and specialised strategies are assembled into various cost effective CIS structures.
Regulated boutique managers and CIS structures afford you accessibility to high-end, carefully researched, alternative strategies that include:
Balanced Fund
A balanced fund combines equities, fixed income (bonds) and sometimes a money market component into a single portfolio. These hybrid funds typically stick to a traditional mix of stocks and bonds (70/30) that maintain a moderate (higher equity component), or a conservative (higher fixed-income) position.
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
An exchange traded fund (ETF) is a regulated security that tracks an index, a commodity, bonds, or a basket of assets like an index fund. Unlike a unit trust, an ETF trades like any normal stock on an exchange and their prices fluctuate during the day as they are also affected by supply and demand.
Flexible Fund
As the name implies, a flexible fund is a pooled investment that has broad flexibility for investing in fixed income (bonds), equity, commodity and foreign exchange product markets. With access to a wider universe of investments, the fund can actively allocate investments according to market opportunities and conditions rather than specific investing requirements.
Global Equity
A global macro strategy is a hedge fund strategy that primarily bases holdings, including long and short positions, on macroeconomic principles. These actively managed funds attempt to profit from broad market swings due to political or economic events by using investing in fixed income (bonds), equity, commodity and foreign exchange product markets.
Long Short Hedge
The most common of the hedge fund strategies – representing two thirds of the industry– involves taking long positions in equities that are expected to appreciate in value and short positions in equities that are expected to decline over time. Long and short are not a measure of time, but of the perceived direction of the investment profiting.
Money Market
The money market is a highly liquid segment of the financial markets where financial instruments are traded through borrowing and lending for the short term.
Multi-Manager
These are specialists in selecting fund managers and apportioning them into a structure with other fund managers. Structures vary and have different tax implications. The most popular is the fund of funds structures, they are the largest investors in alternatives, accounting for 57% of the local industry allocation into hedge funds and as much as 24% of the global allocations.
Private Equity (S12j)
Section 12J is an investment tax incentive designed to encourage investment into a range of private companies which meet defined criteria. The incentive gives taxpayers the ability to write off 100% of their investment against their taxable income.
Property (Global)
Global Property funds are typically actively managed onshore and offshore funds, investing in listed property shares, also considering REITS, financial instruments (leverage and derivatives), assets in liquid form and at times non-equity securities (bonds).
Dividend Income
A dividend income strategy considers the distribution of earnings to shareholders in cash, equity, or property. Unit trust dividends are usually paid out quartterly from interest generated by the fund’s investments.
Fixed Income
Fixed income investors act as lenders of capital, issuing credit, using bonds (federal governments, local municipalities and major corporations), for which real return rates or periodic income are received at regular intervals and at reasonably predictable levels. Commonly used in some traditional investments to manage risk and at times a very efficient financial instrument.
General Equity
Also referred to as a Long-Only equity strategy, involves taking long positions in equities, that are expected to appreciate in value. This approach will not employ derivatives or gearing for hedging purposes (unlike an equity long / short fund) and is considered very mainstream. This is one of the more common retail products across the unit trusts.
Indexation
Indexation is a method of tracking a broad market index or a segment thereof thus replicating the performance of the designated index. Tracker funds are investable, appropriate, transparent and measurable. Two major risks to generating investment returns are emotion and costs; index funds mitigate both these risks.
Market Neutral
A common equity long-short strategy that seeks to profit by matching long and short positions in different equities, expecting to avoid risk while able to exploit any momentum in the market. Market-neutral managers may also use other tools such as merger arbitrage, shorting sectors and so on.
Multi-Asset
Multi-asset funds have mandates that afford the fund manager the flexibility to invest in a broad range of asset classes (such as cash, equity or bonds, both domestic and offshore). The objective is to achieve consistent real returns and long-term capital growth through maximum exposure to equities during bull markets, while minimising exposure to equities in secular bear markets.
Mulit-Strategy
As the name implies, this seeks hedged returns through numerous asset classes: long-short, long only (equity), market neutral, event driven, merger arbitrage, fixed income and global macro. Collectively, they seek absolute returns with minimised risk and are typically reserved for the very experienced teams.
Property (RSA)
These are typically actively managed funds, investing in listed property shares, also considering REITS, financial instruments (leverage and derivatives), assets in liquid form and at times non-equity securities (bonds).
Structured Products
A structured product is an investment that provides a pre-defined investment outcome over a pre-determined period. Structured products typically provide returns linked to the performance of an equity index or interest rates and are tailored to provide capital growth with some level of capital protection.
Individually or collectively these strategies track absolute returns with zero to low correlation to the JSE and their General Equity and Balanced Fund peers, seeking significantly better overall results with substantially less risk over time.
Some of our preferred fund managers:
While continually reviewing and interviewing fund managers and service providers, BLACK ONYX has established a series of short interviews bringing you face-to-face with some of the industry stakeholders. There’s a strong likelihood many of these boutique fund managers influenced some of your current investments, at some stage in their career.
Cy Jacobs – 36ONE Asset Management
Erik Nel – Terebinth Capital
Jacques Conradie – Peregrine Capital
BLACK ONYX is committed to social upliftment, supporting the Silibona Educational Fund, a tertiary education initiative providing financial assistance & mentoring support at university level, to disadvantaged students, focused on mainly female students.
