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Dino Zuccollo, S12J fund manager at Westbrooke Alternative Asset Management who is a founding member of the S12J Association of South Africa says, “We see increased growth each year from our now more than 700 passive investors. We raised R420m in 2016, R470m in 2017, R565m in 2018, of which over R900m has been invested into small/medium sized business across South Africa. We are very pleased with our 2019 raise of more than R750m. Our 2019 fundraise was in line with our targets and we were able to solidify our position as South Africa’s largest S12J asset manager. This highlights investors’ growing interest in this asset class and confirms that National Treasury’s intention to encourage investment in the SA economy and to stimulate job creation is on track.”

Section 12J fund manager Dino Zuccollo sat down with CNBC Africa’s Arnold Segawa to discuss the Section 12J tax incentive

Focused on debt opportunities in the UK, portfolio manager Richard Asherson is building the firm’s private-debt portfolio with capital preservation at its core
Westbrooke Alternative Asset Man­agement has extended into the UK market, with Westbrooke Yield Plus Limited.

Many South Africans are currently considering whether to reduce their February tax liability by taking advantage of the Section 12J tax deduction. For every R100 invested in a Section 12J company an investor (individuals, companies and trusts) can reduce their tax by up to R45 making the net investment only R55.

With the tax year end just more than a month away, there has been a growing marketing effort aimed at luring investors to Section 12J venture capital and private equity investments.
The Section 12J tax incentive is a government initiative aimed at assisting small and medium-sized businesses to access equity finance in the hope of creating jobs and boosting economic activity.

Westbrooke expands its February 2019 investment offerings.
Westbrooke’s student accommodation fund has raised R360m to date, and the second tranche of capital raising is underway.

As South Africans return to work in 2019, many will be considering whether to reduce their February tax liability by taking advantage of the Section 12J tax deduction. 

Finally, after many false starts, shareholder activism on the JSE may have come of age in 2018. While activism is commonplace in other markets especially the US the JSE has for the past few years had only sporadic bouts of corporate confrontation led by individuals like Theo Botha, Chris Logan and more recently the disarmingly astute Albie Cilliers.

Many firms are in good shape with healthy cash balances.

The small-cap index has fallen 14% this year, while the mid-cap index is down 11%. It doesn’t sound too bad until you consider that hardware, kitchen and sanitary ware supplier Dawn has fallen 99% this year, quick service food franchisor Taste has fallen 97% and Aveng and Group Five have seen their share prices massacred. On the other hand logistics provider Value Group is up 62.5% in the year to date.

A small group of Grand Parade shareholders succeeds in getting two out of four proposed directors appointed to the board.

Former judge of the Cape High Court, Alex Abercrombie has been a non-executive director of Grand Parade Investments for 21-years and he has no intention of taking efforts to remove him as a director lying down.