Category: Real Assets
RI speaks to the co-CEO of Africa’s largest alternatives manager about investment challenges and opportunities in the region RI speaks to the co-CEO of Africa’s largest alternatives manager about investment challenges and opportunities in t… RI speaks to the co-CEO of Africa’s largest alternatives manager about investment challenges and opportunities in the region
In the early 2000s, Paul Boynton would feel very lonely at conferences.
“The first private equity conference I attended internationally was in Berlin,” says the co-CEO of Old Mutual Alternative Investments (OMAI), Africa’s largest alternatives manager. “I was on the panel for a breakaway session focused on Africa, and there were more people on the panel than in the audience. For someone who comes from Africa [Boynton is a South African native], it was a very chilling experience to find so little interest in what’s going on where you come from.
“But that’s a very different story today. Now there’s a lot of interest.”
OMAI is part of Old Mutual, a major insurance company headquartered in Cape Town, managing $70bn across Africa. OMAI, which Boynton built from scratch starting in 2004, manages $3.4bn and seeks to generate 20% gross, dollar-denominated returns. Its portfolio spans infrastructure, private equity, fund of funds and impact invest…