Man GLG, Man Group’s discretionary investment management business has bought Sanlam’s Strategic Bond business to Man GLG for an undisclosed fee.

Subject to regulatory approval wealth manager and Financial Planner Sanlam’s strategic bond investment strategy, and assets currently under management, will become part of Man GLG's fixed income offering.

Portfolio managers Craig Veysey and Francois Kotze will move to Man GLG as a result of the acquisition and will continue to run the strategy “with a consistent approach.”
 
The strategic bond strategy is focused on investing in attractively valued corporate and Government bond opportunities across the global bond sector.

The investment approach is supplemented with what Man GLG called “a dynamic macro overlay strategy that seeks to enhance total portfolio returns.”
 
Craig Veysey has a career spanning over 17 years in the fund management industry and has been responsible for fixed income at Sanlam since 2009.

He has been the lead portfolio manager on the Sanlam strategic bond strategy since its launch in 2012. 

Previously, he managed global bond funds at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership and WestLB Mellon Asset Management. Before this, he was a senior member of the Global Fixed Income team at HSBC Investment Management.
 
Francois Kotze joined the fixed income team at Sanlam FOUR in 2017, working alongside Mr Veysey as assistant portfolio manager on the strategic bond strategy.

Before joining Sanlam FOUR, Mr Kotze was a fixed income research analyst at Rathbone Brothers.

Prior to that, he was a senior credit and macro analyst at Sanlam, where he also worked with Mr Veysey on the Sanlam Strategic Bond Fund.
 
Teun Johnston, chief executive of Man GLG, said: “We are delighted to welcome Craig and Francois to Man GLG.

“Craig is a seasoned bond portfolio manager who, along with Francois, has developed a rigorous, repeatable investment process, which we believe offers a compelling proposition for our clients.

“We have a successful track record of hiring and integrating exceptional senior level talent and investment teams at Man GLG, and believe Craig and Francois’ expertise will be highly additive to our existing strategic bond offering and to Man GLG’s overall fixed income platform.”
 
Jonathan Polin, Group CEO of Sanlam UK, said: “Our absolute priority is the safe stewardship of our clients’ assets and it is in their best interests to see the fund transition smoothly to Man GLG where it will be managed by the same team, to the same strategy and with the same process, methodologies and tools.

“This is not a decision we have taken lightly.

“Over the past two years we invested significant time and resources to marketing the fund successfully within the wealth management market, securing early adopters and substantial new fund flows.

“We will continue to bring on-board talented teams and give them the freedom to develop their investment strategy to deliver strong performance for our clients.”