Amplify Investment Partners has launched a property fund to boost its rapidly growing range of high-performing investment options.
While new to Amplify’s product suite, the Amplify SCI* Property Equity Fund comes with a long track record as far back as 2006, as it started its history in Absa Asset Management before moving into Sanlam Investments, and now into Amplify.
The addition of property to Amplify’s existing 10 unit trusts and seven hedge funds “is the result of our constant appraisal of our products and investors’ requirements,” says Amplify head of distribution, Nico Janse van Rensburg. “We are constantly looking at our solutions set and where we have gaps and had been on the lookout for a property solution,” he says.
“While we follow a well-honed and proven strategy of outsourcing to independent boutique managers, we came across this fortuitous opportunity and were excited about the potential to take over the fund and maintain the track record and the fund manager.”
“We were looking for a fund that is a good fit for us, and this made sense. Importantly, in line with our active mindset, the fund is managed with flexible strategies and makes tactical investments, and its performance record is in line with the high expectations we have of the managers we choose.”
The specialist fund is aimed at investors with a moderate aggressive risk profile, wanting diversification from general equity shares and capital growth over the medium to long term.
Morningstar data shows that the fund was ranked second in its peer group over three and five years, and first over 10 years.
The fund’s investment approach has seen it return 11.79% from inception in August 2006 to September 2024 against the FTSE/JSE SA listed property index benchmark of 10.25% and the ASISA real estate average of 8.91%, reflecting consistent outperformance.
Over three years, it has returned 15.88% against FTSE/JSE SA listed property index growth of 15.97% and ASISA real estate average of 13.47%. Over five years, it has returned 7.94% the index benchmark of 5.37% and the ASISA real estate average of 4.77%, while annualised returns over 10 years are 7.39% against the index benchmark of 4.35%.
Tracking the significant rebound in property shares over the last year, the fund has recorded outstanding returns of 50.09% over a year and 30.37% in 2024 (year to date).
Top counters include NEPI Rockcastle, Redefine, Resilient, Fortress, Vukile, Attacq, Lighthouse, Fairvest, Hyprop and Equites.
The fund is managed by Sanlam Investments head of listed property Fayyaz Mottiar, who has managed the fund since 2011. It maintains a core holding of businesses that are consistent performers, while tactically exploiting opportunities around the core, including the use of cash to protect against downside risk and maintain liquidity.
Mottiar uses a pragmatic approach to exploit risks and opportunities without being constrained by indices. He has a highly flexible method to portfolio construction and uses an absolute return mindset to protect on the downside and capture on the upside, and to balance income and growth.
The fund’s investment strategy is broad enough to allow for flexibility and opportunity and uses benchmark criteria to define its investable universe. Its foundation includes indexed stocks and those that could be included if they met size and liquidity requirements, along with cash.
The fund aims to match sector income and growth at the portfolio level to ensure alignment with broader sector trends. “This creates an optimised portfolio driven by fundamental factors such as company performance and growth potential, rather than being dictated by market ratings or index weightings, Mottiar says.
“This flexibility allows us to deviate from large index weightings, owning significant portions of smaller weighted companies when they present stronger fundamentals and long-term potential. By remaining pragmatic and understanding how indexation affects security prices, we can tactically exploit opportunities and extract additional alpha.”
The fund’s managers continuously screen and rank the building blocks of the portfolio across different market environments and based on sector-specific factors, bonds, risks and relative opportunities. Key factors considered in this process include yield, growth, liquidity, time horizons, and any company-specific attributes that might influence performance.
“This process and strategy make it a good fit for Amplify,” says Janse van Rensburg. “We are excited to work with the management team. This addition to our range reflects our continuous efforts to provide vale for our clients, and our record speaks for itself. This is why we have been able to grow assets under management to roughly R60bn with strong performances across our local and global unit trusts and hedge funds. We expect nothing less from our new property fund.”
*Sanlam Collective Investments
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