South African Insurance Sector "Q1 2026 Unit trust ups and downs" Christelis

Research evidence excerpt

South African Insurance Sector "Q1 2026 Unit trust ups and downs" Christelis

Global Research

11 June 2026ab

South African Insurance Sector Equities

South AfricaQ1 2026 Unit trust ups and downs

Insurance

Michael Christelis, FIA CFA

FuM declines this quarter for the first time in 4 years Analyst

Quarterly industry FuM declined for only the 11th quarter in the last 20 years, as FuM fell michael.christelis@ubs.com

-c1% to cR5.3tn. Over 12m, industry assets still show robust growth of c16%. All asset +27-11-322 7320

classes showed declines for the quarter with the exception of Fixed Interest, which

showed an increase of c1% (implying net inflows of >4%). Overall, Equity funds

declined by -c1.1%, in line with the equity index for the quarter. Real estate (-1.9%)

and, unexpectedly Money market funds (-1.6%) showed meaningful FuM declines for

the quarter. These Money market FuM declines imply significant net outflows of as much

as c3.3% for Q1.

Slight declines but y/y/ still looks strong; Ashburton and PSG continu to lead

Most managers analysed showed slight declines in FuM this quarter of up to -c4.7%

(Fig 1 below). Only Ashburton (c7.2%) and PSG (c2%) showed growth. Over 12m these

managers lead the growth at c29% and c23%, respectively, well above that of the

industry (c16%). Momentum, Sanlam and Discovery show up strongly here too over

12m. Average FuM for the quarter shows solid double-digit growth of H1 2025 for most

managers (excl Nedbank), implying strong revenue momentum as we head into June

reporting.

Stanlib and PSG fund data provided again for the first time in 5 years

As we have highlighted previously, both Stanlib and PSG had stopped providing fund-

specific FuM in 2021. For the first time this quarter we have received detailed fund data

from the ASISA.