Citywire Independent Wealth Retreat 2025
Citywire South Africa is thrilled to launch its inaugural Independent Wealth Retreat at Fancourt, in May this year.
The two-day retreat brings together a select group of local IFAs and family office professionals involved in investment decision-making, giving them unique access to leading asset managers.
Advisers will participate in small workshop groups with these asset managers, allowing them to engage on affluent client investment needs.
The retreat will be a unique opportunity to network with other elite advisers, make new acquaintances over dinner and perhaps enjoy a round of golf.
We look forward to welcoming you to Fancourt in May.

Agenda
12:00 - 13:30
Registration and Lunch
13:30 - 13:40
Welcome Address
13:40 - 14:35
Conference Session 1 - Dr Azar Jammine
14:35 - 15:05
Fund Group Workshop
15:15 - 15:45
Fund Group Workshop
15:55 - 16:25
Fund Group Workshop
16:35 - 17:05
Fund Group Workshop
19:30 - 20:00
Drinks Reception
20:00
Dinner
08:00 - 08:30
Breakfast at Leisure
08:30 - 09:30
Conference Session 2 - Pieter du Preez
09:30 - 10:00
Fund Group Workshop
10:10 - 10:40
Fund Group Workshop
10:50 - 11:20
Fund Group Workshop
11:30 - 12:00
Fund Group Workshop
12:00
Buffet Lunch
Register
Register
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Keynote Speakers
Speakers
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Dr Azar Jammine
Dr Azar Jammine is the Director and Chief Economist of Econometrix (Pty) Ltd, South Africa's leading independent economic research consultancy and forecasting company, established in 1982. He has been in his current position since December 1985 and has established a significant profile in South Africa as an analyst and commentator on domestic and international economic affairs. Dr Jammine has conducted more than 5,000 presentations to leading client corporations and other institutions and at conferences dealing with the local and international economic environment. In this capacity, he was also invited over the years by several corporations to serve as an independent non-executive director, including six that were listed on the JSE. Dr Jammine has been quoted in thousands of newspapers and magazines in South Africa and abroad and has been interviewed hundreds of times on local and international radio and television.
Dr Jammine has been a member of the Executive Committee of ISASA (Independent Schools Association of South Africa) for the past decade and still serves in that capacity. He is also a member of the Board of Governors of the Wits University Foundation. Dr Jammine recently retired as a member of the National Advisory Council on Innovation, a body of experts appointed by the Department of Science and Technology, but still assists NACI on an ad-hoc basis as an expert on various tasks. In 2018, Dr Jammine was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at The South African Professional Services Awards Association (sponsored by Sanlam).
Academically, Dr Jammine obtained a BSc (Hons) in Mathematical Statistics and a BA (Hons) in Economics at Wits, followed by an M.Sc in Economics from the LSE and a PhD at the London Business School.

Pieter du Preez
Pieter (aka supapiet) du Preez is a South African Para Athlete competing in swimming, cycling, athletics and triathlon. He is a multiple African and world record holder, multiple world champion, and Paralympic gold medalist.
A keen runner and cyclist in childhood, Pieter was paralyzed from the chest down after a car collided with his bicycle. Determined to overcome his life-changing circumstances, Pieter not only returned to sport but set about breaking records - he became a seven-time winner of the Berlin marathon as a T51 competitor and the first athlete with C6 quadriplegia to complete an Ironman triathlon, amassing 18 global championship medals along the way. An inspiration to countless others, he went on to be nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability.
Alongside his sporting achievements - and a twenty-year career as an actuarial analyst - Pieter is a sought-after motivational speaker. In speeches, Pieter shares insights into adapting to change, dealing with tough times and living with purpose. He believes we’re always only one mindshift away from finding solutions to any problem: “When a bad thing happens, it's an opportunity to be great. You don’t need to be a superhero to inspire, you can be a normal person with a smile!”
Sponsors










Workshops
Workshops

Contrarian Investing in a rapidly changing world
Contrarius is a bottom-up, valuation-based, contrarian active manager taking advantage of opportunities in global markets. Our presentation outlines the application of the key components of our investment philosophy, and demonstrates how the current disparity in the market creates opportunities across both growth and value and quality-oriented areas. Our very different portfolio offers investors an opportunity to invest in a Fund which is truly different from conventional offerings. Our presentation also demonstrates how the consistent application of our bottom-up, contrarian investment philosophy has taken advantage of valuation disparity over time resulting in a fund that has outperformed the benchmark MSCI World Index, the average manager, the MSCI World Value Index and the MSCI World Growth Index since its inception on 1 January 2009.
Workshop Objectives: To introduce delegates to Contrarius’ contrarian investment philosophy and the areas of the market where we are currently finding value.
Company Profile: Contrarius’ objective is to create long-term wealth for our investors through superior long-term investment performance. Our portfolios are typically very different from our peers demonstrating our contrarian approach.
Our largest fund, Contrarius Global Equity Fund, has outperformed the benchmark MSCI World Index, the average manager, the MSCI World Value Index and the MSCI World Growth Index since its inception on 1 January 2009.
We believe that long-term performance is driven by the consistent application of a sound investment philosophy. The key characteristics of our investment philosophy are that it is contrarian, valuation based, long-term and based on proprietary fundamental research. For more information, visit www.contrarius.com.
Contrarius offers a global equity and global balanced strategy available to South African investors through:
- Contrarius ICAV, an Irish UCITS approved for marketing in South Africa
- BCI Contrarius rand-based feeder funds
- Contrarius BCI South African funds with up to 45% offshore exposure
Speakers
Simon Raubenheimer
Director

Simon joined Contrarius in March 2019. He has over 16 years’ previous investment experience with Allan Gray Ltd. From 2008-2018, Simon co-managed Allan Gray’s equity and balanced composites which included the largest equity and largest mutual fund in South Africa. Simon also co-launched and managed the Allan Gray Global Frontier Equity Fund. He has a BCom (Econometrics) and BCom (Honours) (Financial Analysis and Portfolio Management). Simon is a CFA charterholder.
Representatives
Heaton van der Linde
Director

Heaton joined the Contrarius Group in March 2009. He is a director and employee of Contrarius Investment Services (South Africa) (Pty) Limited, the Representative Office of Contrarius funds approved for marketing in South Africa. He previously had 11 years’ experience at Allan Gray Limited ("AGL"), the largest privately owned investment management firm in South Africa whose clients comprise both institutional investors and individuals. He holds a Bachelor of Business Science (Finance) degree from the University of Cape Town, is a Chartered Accountant (SA) and a CFA charterholder.

Still waters, strong currents: Finding opportunities beyond market cycles.
Investec Investment Management has funds with track records going back over 18 years. Collectively we manage well over R250bn across asset classes and regions and have 25 funds available. This presentation will provide an overview of our fund management process with a particular focus on two top performing local equity funds. The SA economic backdrop has been weak for some time, leading to weak and volatile local equity returns. However, there have been several notable exceptions – companies that have managed to earn returns on capital above their cost of capital even though the cost of capital has been prohibitive. We expect an even greater dispersion ahead and will highlight what we consider to be the key themes over the coming years in the local market.
Workshop Objectives: We will introduce you to two key decision makers within Investec Investment Management and provide insight into our equity selection process with a particular emphasis on discovering unique opportunities in under researched parts of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Company Profile: Founded in 1974 in South Africa, Investec is an international financial services group with a strong focus on asset management, wealth management, and specialist banking. Listed at the London Stock Exchange as well as at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, is the largest private client manager in South Africa.
Investec Investment Management, the investment management arm of Investec Wealth and Investment International, has a proven track record of successfully managing funds across multiple jurisdictions including South Africa, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Guernsey. Our team of highly skilled professionals possess extensive experience and expertise in navigating the complexities of fund management regulations and always ensuring compliance.
Speakers
Chris Holdsworth
Chief Investment Strategist

Chris has 17 years of industry experience, having served as a quantitative analyst and investment strategist. He was the Head of Research at Investec Institutional Securities for 2 years. Currently, Chris chairs the Global Investment Strategy group and the South African Asset Allocation committee, in addition to being a member of the Global Asset Allocation committee. He holds an MSc in Mathematical Statistics and is a CFA charter holder.
Barry Shamley
Fund Manager

Barry is the manager of the Investec BCI Dynamic Equity fund which he has managed since inception. He is passionate about sustainability and was instrumental in the creation of the Investec Global Sustainable Equity fund which he co-manages. He is also a member of the Investec group ESG Executive Committee.
Barry Shamley started his career at Investec in 1996 before moving to Oryx Investment Management in 2006 where he co-managed its award-winning flagship fund. He rejoined Investec in 2010. Barry obtained a B.A. from the University of Witwatersrand and a BComm (Hons), Financial Analysis and Portfolio Management from the University of Cape Town. More recently he completed the CFA certificates in ESG, Climate & Investing and Impact Investing.
Representatives
Ebeth van Heerden
Head of Distribution

Ebeth has worked in the financial services industry since 2003 and gained valuable experience across the various areas of distribution, having represented both platforms and asset managers, independent financial advisors, discretionary fund managers and bulk dealers. She grew her career with Stanlib, Allan Gray and most recently Schroders, before joining Investec Investment Management in 2021. She heads a team with a deep sense of responsibility and purpose to fulfil investors’ commitment: stewarding the changing futures for generations and helping people build better futures.
Ebeth holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences and a post graduate in Financial Planning from the University of Stellenbosch.
Emma Botha
Investment Distribution, Regional Head WC

Emma started her investment career as an analyst at Sanlam Investments in 2019 and moved to business development and
investor relations with Amplify Investments in 2020. She holds a master’s degree in law from Stellenbosch and has completed
her CFA.

Fund Group Workshop
Speakers
Jean Minnaar
MD of Private Clients by Old Mutual Wealth

Jean leads Private Clients by Old Mutual Wealth, a business dedicated to providing holistic, bespoke solutions for high-net-worth clients. Since joining in 2021, he has expanded the business’ investment focus, broadening it into an integrated wealth management firm. Today, Private Clients by Old Mutual Wealth offers a full spectrum of services, including investments, fiduciary services, wealth structuring, transfer strategies, proactive tax planning and portfolio administration. Under his leadership, the business is positioning itself as the leading wealth manager for high-net-worth clients with African roots.
Jean’s career spans multiple senior roles at Old Mutual, where he spearheaded new capabilities across the group. Before joining Private Clients, he was General Manager of Retail Investments and New Ventures at Old Mutual. A Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries, he completed the Harvard Business School General Management Programme in 2019. His expertise extends across finance, fintech and investment management, with previous directorships at Old Mutual Unit Trusts, Old Mutual Investment Services and 22seven Digital.
Representatives
Tag Moodley
Andrew Brotchie

Fund Group Workshop
Speakers
Richard Carlyle
Investment Director, Capital Group London
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Richard Carlyle is an equity investment director and portfolio strategy manager at Capital Group. He has 42 years of investment industry experience and has been with Capital Group for 18 years. Prior to joining Capital, he was head of equities for Henderson Investors. Before that, he was a fund manager for Morgan Grenfell Asset Management, a pension fund manager for British Petroleum, and an analyst for Equity & Law Life Assurance Society. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics with honours from Leicester University.

Fund Group Workshop
Speakers
Jeremy Knox
Senior Investment Director, Private Equity

Jeremy Knox is Senior Investment Director, Private Equity at Schroders Capital (the private markets division of Schroders). He covers Schroders Capital US private equity activities with a focus on co-investments, primary fund commitments and secondaries. Prior to joining Schroders Capital in 2016, Jeremy spent seven years in the investment arm of PartnerRe Ltd., where he was responsible for managing their private equity portfolio. Prior to PartnerRe, Jeremy worked in the Investment Banking group of Fox-Pitt Kelton where he focused on transactions within the financial services industry. Jeremy holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Franklin & Marshall College.

Company Profile: We are innovators and problem solvers, stewards and educators. With experts across the globe, we are the quiet power in a tumultuous investing world.
For over four decades, State Street Global Advisors has served the world’s governments, institutions, and financial advisors. With a rigorous, risk-aware approach built on research, analysis, and market-tested experience, and as pioneers in index and ETF investing, we are always inventing new ways to invest. As a result, we have become the world’s fourth-largest asset manager* with US $4.72 trillion† under our care.
*Pensions & Investments Research Center, as of 12/31/23.
†This figure is presented as of December 31, 2024 and includes ETF AUM of $1,577.74 billion USD of which approximately $82.19 billion USD in gold assets with respect to SPDR products for which State Street Global Advisors Funds Distributors, LLC (SSGA FD) acts solely as the marketing agent. SSGA FD and State Street Global Advisors are affiliated. Please note all AUM is unaudited.
Speakers
David Furey
Managing Director at State Street Global Advisors, Head of Portfolio and Investment Strategists

David leads a team of experienced investment professionals who are responsible for representing our investment capabilities across the complete fixed income arena spanning indexed, active and systematic strategies, LDI, cash and currency. The strategist team also act as subject matter experts to assist institutional investors and their advisors to evaluate economic and market developments, assess the impact to their portfolios, and identify specific products and solutions to help them manage risk and take advantage of market opportunities.
Prior to joining the strategist team in 2011, David was a Senior Portfolio Manager at SSGA Ireland (formerly Bank of Ireland Asset Management) with responsibility for the management of a broad array of active fixed income strategies primarily in the European bond markets. Previously, David spent five years in a similar role in Bermuda with a focus on US credit markets with Butterfield Asset Management. David began his investment career with AIG in Dublin before moving to London in 1993 to take up a position as a fixed income portfolio manager, managing active and liability driven bond strategies for AIG and other institutional investors.
David is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin, and of the Smurfit Graduate School of Business at University College Dublin.