Investors will be keenly assessing the prospects for South African investment manager Investec (INVP) after chief executive Fani Titi sold 249,000 shares, at an average price of 456p, netting approximately £1.14mn in the wake of the company’s annual general meeting.
The sale occurred following a recent recovery in the company’s share price. So far this year, Investec’s share price has risen by 18 per cent, bucking the trend for most of its asset manager peers, and giving an average price/earnings ratio of 8.8.
The puzzle is what lies behind what is clearly a significant level of outperformance. There is a sense that the market is prepared to reward Investec for its willingness to diversify. The company has been an active acquirer this year, having recently bought Edinburgh-based financial planner Murray Asset Management, adding further specialist wealth management capacity to Investec’s traditional expertise in banking. In doing so, Investec is following the trend in a sector where fragmented wealth specialists are gradually consolidating under the control of either banks or larger asset managers.
Investec is clearly prepared to pay to diversify its investment and corporate banking lines. Smaller wealth managers often come with high degrees of specialism in fee-rich areas such as retirement planning and life assurance, and often have good, established relationships with distributors and high-net-worth clients.
Investec will issue a pre-close briefing on23 September, with the interim results expected on 17 November.
| Buys | |||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Stake size |
| 3i | David Hutchison (ch) | 08 Aug 22 | 1,243 | 72,943 | n/d |
| Admiral | Annette Court (ch) | 11 Aug 22 | 2,244 | 26,502 | n/d |
| Afentra | Gavin Wilson | 10 Aug 22 | 25 | 73,500 | 1.35% |
| Afentra | Paul McDade (ce) | 10 Aug 22 | 24 | 199,550 | 1.40% |
| AssetCo | Alex Hoctor-Duncan (ce) * | 11 Aug 22 | 74 | 349,999 | 4.70% |
| Best of the Best | Ben Hughes (PDMR) | 10 Aug 22 | 460 | 23,827 | 0.48% |
| Derwent London | Sanjeev Sharma | 11 Aug 22 | 2,698 | 34,017 | n/d |
| Diversified Energy | David Johnson (ch) | 08 Aug 22 | 126 | 25,140 | 0.05% |
| Dunelm | Vijay Talwar | 04 Aug 22 | 850 | 82,156 | 0.00% |
| Everyman Media | Michael Rosehill * | 08-10 Aug 22 | 107 | 380,650 | 19.60% |
| GSK | Dr Hal Barron | 08 Aug 22 | 3,338 † | 42,653 † | n/d |
| ImmuPharma | Tim McCarthy (ch) ** | 10 Aug 22 | 5 | 60,000 | 0.46% |
| ImmuPharma | Tim Franklin (coo) ** | 10 Aug 22 | 5 | 20,000 | 0.16% |
| ImmuPharma | Lisa Baderoon ** | 10 Aug 22 | 5 | 20,000 | 0.18% |
| Integrated Diagnostic | Dr Hend El Sherbini | 04-10 Aug 22 | 75 † | 2,141,608 † | n/d |
| JD Sports Fashion | Andrew Higginson (ch) | 08-09 Aug 22 | 136 | 396,576 | 0.01% |
| Legal & General | Tushar Morzaria | 09 Aug 22 | 268 | 53,690 | n/d |
| NatWest | Ian Cormack | 08 Aug 22 | 254 | 76,170 | n/d |
| ProCook | Daniel O'Neill (ce) | 11 Aug 22 | 43 | 212,500 | 35.50% |
| Purplebricks | Helena Marston (ce) | 05 Aug 22 | 16 | 100,104 | 0.21% |
| Rolls-Royce | Anita Frew (ce) | 05 Aug 22 | 83 | 41,300 | n/d |
| S4 Capital | Mary Basterfield (cfo) | 05 Aug 22 | 133 | 26,680 | 0.00% |
| Springfield Properties | Michelle Motion (cfo) * | 11 Aug 22 | 134 | 33,500 | 0.10% |
| Staffline | Albert Ellis (ce) | 09 Aug 22 | 40 | 20,000 | 0.28% |
| Staffline | Martina McKenzie (PDMR) | 10 Aug 22 | 41 | 88,657 | 0.29% |
| TheWorks.co.uk | Harry Morley * | 10 Aug 22 | 36 | 26,925 | n/d |
| Unbound | Neil Johnson (ch) ** | 11 Aug 22 | 15 | 50,000 | 0.94% |
| Unbound | Ian Watson (ce) ** | 11 Aug 22 | 15 | 49,244 | 3.95% |
| Unbound | Daniel Lampard (cfo) ** | 11 Aug 22 | 15 | 37,169 | 0.46% |
| Unbound | Gavin Manson ** | 11 Aug 22 | 15 | 62,500 | 1.49% |
| Unbound | Paul Goodson ** | 11 Aug 22 | 15 | 62,500 | 0.29% |
| Virgin Money | Clifford Abrahams (cfo) | 05 Aug 22 | 154 | 46,266 | n/d |
| Wizz Air | Yvonne Moynihan (PDMR) | 05 Aug 22 | 2,291 | 63,209 | n/d |
Sells | |||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Stake size |
| Investec | Fani Titi (ce) | 08 Aug 22 | 456 | 1,136,173 | n/d |
| Investec | Mark Currie (PDMR) | 11 Aug 22 | 451 † | 23,948 † | n/d |
| NatWest | Bruce Flectcher (PDMR) | 08 Aug 22 | 254 | 142,072 | n/d |
| *Spouse/Family/Close Associate. ** placing / open offer † Converted from $ / ZAR | |||||
