Catalyst Investment Managers, is one of six managers who are a part of the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) incubation programme, which commenced in 2019, aimed at addressing the need for active beneficial participation of Namibian professionals in the asset management industry, expand on their capacity within Namibia and bring in expertise with the necessary skills to mainstream asset management.
“The programme is meant to emulate other large asset owners in the region that have embarked on similar initiatives to empower their own investment professionals to enter the industry and to become active market participants. When successful, this programme will open opportunities in future for more entrants into the industry, therefore completing the investment eco-system loop between asset owners, asset management companies and the stock market. The GIPF is strategically changing the industry and our work through the incubation programme, which is leading the charge in the evolution of the Namibian industry.”, said Leevi Tshoopara, GIPF Listed Investments Manager.
“The tenure of the programme is 5 years upon which we will evaluate the overall performance of the asset managers, however to minimize risks associated with performance during the 5-year period, the GIPF tracks the monthly performance reports of these asset managers and also conducts an internal operational due diligence mid-way through the programme. This allows for the GIPF to flag issues of concern and remedy them. Ultimately, this requires a more hands-on approach to other conventional asset managers, but it assures the Fund that it has better insight of the asset managers performance during the programme period.”
Established in 2017, Catalyst Investment Managers is founded on the premise of placing clients’ interests first and providing Namibians with the opportunity to manage their own money.
“Catalyst is walking alongside the GIPF in this endeavor. Our hope is that most investors, clients and asset owners will emulate the work of the GIPF”, said Brown Amuenje, the Founder and Portfolio Manager of Catalyst Investment Managers.
Despite being a newcomer to the local investment landscape, the Catalyst Investment philosophy and process ensured that the GIPF portfolio performed above benchmark, with net value of N$845 million, especially during the COVID[1]19 pandemic that caused panic and losses during the market downturn of 2020.
“We are blazing this trail in the investment space with the hope that more Namibians, corporates, asset owners and custodians of assets will follow the GIPF model,” said Amuenje., adding that the GIPF model works and it benefits Namibia from a job creation, social and economic development point of view
The GIPF has allocated N$4.2 billion towards the incubation programme aimed at creating measurable participation by the appointed asset managers with the overall objective of growing our local asset management industry.
