A woman’s view on the world of investments – Vanessa van Vuuren

Now is a good time for new investment opportunities

You manage the Sanlam Investment Management Small Cap Fund. Why do you find the small cap universe such an exciting hunting ground?

First and foremost I really love the content of what I do and I’m extremely passionate about investments, understanding and learning about companies and how they make money, so the vibrant small and mid-cap universe is an ideal area of the market for me personally. Our investment universe is vast in number of shares, with over 200 stocks to analyse and research outside of the JSE Top 40 (including Alt-X and fledgling). Given liquidity constraints, mandate restrictions and limited dedicated research attention from investment banks and stock brokers, this “ignored” area of the market creates an excellent opportunity set to identify mispriced investment opportunities. Many of the companies within this universe are in their infancy and their business models are rapidly evolving, creating early stage opportunities to invest on behalf of our clients and to reap the returns as they grow into potential large companies of the future.

Vanessa van Vuuren
Portfolio manager at Sanlam Investment Management

What do you expect of the markets in the year ahead?

The economy will remain under significant pressure and growth is expected to remain depressed. To protect the capital of our clients we will concentrate our exposure to sectors where we see more resilience to the cycle, such as education and healthcare. It’s worth highlighting that these market conditions are an excellent breeding ground for new investment ideas and can often provide an opportunity to invest in companies that were previously over-valued.

In your personal capacity, what is the best investment you’ve ever made?

In April 2013 I bought shares in a company called Adapt-IT for my personal account after I researched it. At the time, it was a small IT firm which developed their own proprietary software and was virtually unknown to the market – completely below the radar. I paid R2.20/share. Today it is trading at R12.45/share and I am a very satisfied investor! On a more personal note, when I was on the cusp of my early teens, I started my own fudge-making business and I used to walk around the surrounding neighbourhoods over weekends selling my fudge and then reinvesting my profits back into making more “stock”. I actually made quite a tidy income, which materially augmented my pocket money at the time. I firmly believe that investing that time and energy at a very young age made me realise my own passion for business and the career path that I’ve ultimately chosen – a career that I feel very privileged to have because it has given me the opportunity to work in a day job that offers continuous learning and knowledge gathering and a superb intellectual challenge.