STANLIB is a South African

asset manager Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of value from the things that a group or entity is responsible for, over their whole life cycles. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as buildings ...

based in Melrose Arch,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

which is a wholly owned subsidiary of JSE-listed

Liberty Holdings Limited Liberty Holdings Limited (JSE: LBH) is a financial services and property holding company with registered head office situated in Johannesburg, South Africa at Liberty Centre, 1 Ameshoff St., Braamfontein. The company was founded in South Afr ...

. STANLIB operates in nine African countries, and in key developed markets globally. The company was formed in 2002 when Liberty Asset Management (LIBAM) and Standard Corporate and Merchant Bank Asset Management merged. Both of these companies at the time were subsidiaries of Liberty Holdings and Standard Bank respectively. It is the biggest

unit trust A unit trust is a form of collective investment constituted under a trust deed. A unit trust pools investors' money into a single fund, which is managed by a fund manager. Unit trusts offer access to a wide range of investments, and depending on ...

company by

market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those units would have a ...

, managing capital for over 400,000 clients. It runs the oldest existing unit trust in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

which was developed by Liberty. STANLIB manages and administers R608 billion (USD49 billion) (as at 31 December 2017) assets for more than 500,000 retail and institutional clients.

History

STANLIB's predecessor was incorporated in 1862 when the

Standard Bank of British South Africa The Standard Bank was a British overseas bank, which operated mainly in Africa from 1863 to 1969. It merged with the Chartered Bank in 1969 to form Standard Chartered. History The bank was incorporated in London on 15 October 1862 as Standard ...

was founded in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. It became a South African bank in 1962. Life assurer Liberty Life was founded in 1957. The first unit trust was launched by Guardbank Management Corporation Ltd in 1970. STANLIB's formation was the result of the amalgamation of seven Standard Bank and Liberty businesses in May 2002. The amalgamation of various unit trust ranges followed in 2004. In June 2006, 15 investment franchises were formed. In the same year, STANLIB's wealth business was integrated with asset management functions. Later in 2006, a distribution and client support function was established in the UK, in order to offer products suitable for international investors. Operations were expanded to

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

and

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

in 1992,

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

in 1994, and

Swaziland Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

and

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

in 1999.

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

followed in 2001. STANLIB Africa has operated since 1997. Since its inception, STANLIB Africa has secured retail and institutional mandates in 7 countries outside South Africa. In 2007, the part of STANLIB not already owned by

was acquired by the latter. Liberty Holdings Limited has retained ownership since then.

References

{{Witwatersrand companies Financial services companies of South Africa Investment management companies of South Africa Companies based in Johannesburg