Correcting a misunderstanding

The Mergence group has recently been the subject of some adverse publicity based on incorrect facts with which the media were furnished.

We would like urgently to outline what has been an unfortunate misunderstanding. Since an article written by Ms Magda Wierzycka, CEO of Sygnia Asset Management, in Business Day on 6 February 2019:

Mergence has had correspondence from the PIC which shows that our fees were incorrectly stated in the memo to which Ms Wierzycka refers in her article Advisory and asset management fees were combined, which was not done for any other firm mentioned in the memo. This inaccuracy was brought to our attention in December 2018, and we have in turn brought it to the attention of the PIC.
Mergence has received correspondence from Ms Wierzycka, in which she acknowledges that the PIC memo inaccurately reflected our fees. Ms Wierzycka’s company, Sygnia, is in fact a client of Mergence. All services that we conduct with all of our clients including the PIC have been well defined and all fees have been negotiated at market related rates. We do not receive preferential treatment from any client, including the PIC.

Mergence is a reputable diversified financial services group with a robust 15-year track record. We are committed to ethics, we operate through conscious leadership and we believe in creating shared value.

Through our asset management subsidiary, Mergence Investment Managers, we look after the retirement savings of many thousands of South Africans, with a tremendous sense of responsibility and care.

Mergence Investment Managers has pioneered in impact investing. In 2013, we created the first debt fund in the renewable energy sector. Long before it became “mainstream”, we were incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into our investment process.

Another subsidiary, Mergence Africa Capital. is a derivative broking, structuring and advisory business. Since 2014 Mergence Africa Capital has been highly rated within the derivative dealing category of the Financial Mail Ranking the Analysts awards, reflecting a skilled and experienced team.

Our Commodity Finance subsidiary is a specialist in trade financing solutions to the agricultural sector, with a focus on grain and oil.

The combined Mergence group manages assets to a value of R43bn and employs over 86 people. The company has been built using our own risk equity and independent bank financing. We are diverse, hard-working and proudly South African.

Masimo Magerman Izak Peterson

MD, Mergence Group Director