UPDATE
BUY-SIDE TECHNOLOGY
Investec plans demerger
of asset management
business ASX forced to delay imple-
mentation of blockchain
settlement system
I T
nvestec has outlined plans to demerge and pub-
licly list its asset management business following
the departure of its founding members in October.
The South African bank said in a statement that a
strategic review of the company found ‘limited syn-
ergies’ between the Specialist Banking and Wealth
& Investment businesses and the asset management
unit.
Under the restructure, the Specialist Banking and
Wealth & Investment businesses will remain part
of the Group’s current structure, but as an inde-
pendently listed company the asset management
segment would be “better positioned for growth”.
Henrick Du Toit, who currently leads the asset
management business at Investec and will become
co-CEO of the Group alongside Fani Titi in Oc-
tober, will head up the spun-off unit following its
listing.
At the same time, the current Group chief execu-
tive, Stephen Koseff, and Bernard Kantor, who is a
managing director at Investec, will leave the firm.
“We are confident that the proposed demerger
and listing of IAM (Investec Asset Management)
provides the simplicity of structure and focus to
enhance the long-term prospects of IAM and the
remaining Group for the benefit of our sharehold-
ers, clients and employees,” Du Toit and Titi jointly
commented.
“Investec has a heritage and culture of which we
are proud, shaped by the dedication and commit-
ment of our employees and the support of our
clients. We look forward to working closely as Joint
Group CEOs during this phase of our evolution and
to implement this transaction which we expect will
create significant shareholder value over time.”
Koseff and Kantor added that the individual busi-
nesses are well-positioned strategically with strong
market positions and good prospects, and the time
is right to demerge the asset management unit to
support the next phase of the Group’s development.
10 // TheTrade // Autumn 2018
he Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) is to
delay the expected go-live date for its block-
chain-based post-trade equities platform.
ASX initially targeted the fourth quarter of 2020 to
launch the new system, but a consultation on issues
with the timeline raised by market participants has
led the exchange operator to rethink the implemen-
tation date.
The earliest commencement for the post-trade
platform has now been pushed back to March or
April 2021, providing the ASX with a further six
months for user development and testing.
“While there was continued widespread support
for delivering new scope on day one, respondents
questioned whether the proposed implementation
window of Q4 2020 to Q1 2021 was achievable given
the significance of the technology change and the
range of new scope being introduced,” the consulta-
tion said.
Industry-wide testing has been deferred by six
months, with the first set of client tests now ex-
pected to take place from Q3 2020 rather than in Q1
2020 under the new timeline.
The use of blockchain technology on such a wide-
scale at the ASX was heralded as a potential turning
point for the post-trade industry. The exchange
operator announced plans to replace its clearing and
settlement platform for equities in December 2017,
with the help of blockchain specialist Digital Asset.
ASX and Digital Asset carried out extensive devel-
opment of distributed ledger technology (DLT) for
equity post-trade functions and testing for two years
before moving forward with the project.
“Having completed this work, we believe that
using DLT to replace the Clearing House Electron-
ic Sub register System (CHESS) will enable our
customers to develop new services and reduce their
costs, and it will put Australia at the forefront of
innovation in financial markets,” said Dominic Ste-
vens, CEO at ASX, upon announcing the project.