Wealth

Ninety One sitting on R3.9 trillion in assets

Luke Fraser

 ·3 Jun 2026

Ninety One, the largest private asset manager in South Africa, has seen its closing assets under management reach £171.8 billion (close to R3.9 trillion) for the financial year ended 31 March 2026.

“Ninety One is a resilient and robust business with positive momentum. The demand recovery for emerging markets is visible, and our offering is competitive,” said CEO Hendrik du Toit.

“We are in a stronger position than a year ago. We are investing through the cycle in talent and technology to be future fit.”

The group’s year-end AUM increased by 31% to £171.8 billion (R3,872.4 billion at year-end rates for the 2026 financial year), which includes operations in the UK, Europe, Asia Pacific and other areas of Africa.

The increase was due to net inflows of £2.8 billion (R63.1 billion) and its new partnership with Sanlam, which added assets worth a total of £18.3 billion (R412.5 billion).

The group added that there was also a positive market and foreign exchange impact of £19.9 billion (R448.5 billion).

The group said its AUM remained well diversified across asset classes, with all asset classes posting positive returns.

The group said that equities remained the main driver of net inflows, especially into global strategies in the first half and resources in the second half.

This was followed by fixed income net inflows, which were driven mainly by blended strategies throughout the year, even if this was offset by net outflows from emerging market corporate strategies.

There were also outflows from some South African multi-asset strategies over the year.

Alternatives generated net inflows, especially in developed market credit strategies. The South African fund platform saw net inflows during the year.

When it comes to client groups, Asia Pacific was the main contributor to net inflows, driven by global equities in the first half and gold, natural resources, and fixed-income strategies in the second half.

The group added that South African multi-asset and equities strategies drove net outflows in Africa.

Ninety One’s financials

The group’s net revenue for the period stood at £650.2 million (R15.1 billion at average exchange rates), up 9% year on year.

The group’s net profit after tax increased by 2% to £153.5 million (R3.6 billion) over the period, with basic earnings per share at 17.5 pence (R4.07).

The group’s headline earnings per share also increased by 2% to 17.5 pence (R4.07) per share. The group thus upped its dividend per share by 10%, to 13.4 pence (R3.12) per share for the period.