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03 April 2018 Photo Sonia Small
First-rate fund managers in SA produced by UFS Prof Philippe Burger
of Philippe Burger, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Science.
A recent comparative study on the performance of South African fund managers has revealed that the-top performing fund managers over a running average of five years are former undergraduate students of the University of the Free State (UFS).

In an attempt to understand South Africa’s fund managers, Leigh Köhler, head of research at Glacier by Sanlam, and his team, published a comprehensive breakdown which looked at all South African universities and universities of technology. Aspects explored in the report included philosophy, process, people, organisational structure, and cost of funds. In addition, the study also considered characteristics such as age, tenure, level of qualification and undergraduate university to identify fund managers who are superior to their peers.

A closer look at the statistics
The majority of the sampled fund managers studied at the University of Cape Town (46%), University of Stellenbosch (10%), and University of the Witwatersrand (8%), while only 2% studied at the UFS. However, according to the report, “The highest average performance over five years was generated by fund managers who attended the UFS – 13.25%.” This means that for every rand they invested, the portfolios managed by UFS alumni got back approximately R1.13 annually, the highest return when compared to the returns generated by portfolio managers from other universities. These fund managers are employed by a range of institutions, including independent asset management firms, insurance companies, banks and wealth managers.

What our acting dean had to say
Prof Philippe Burger, Acting Dean at the UFS Faculty of Economic and Management Science, said: “When you and I put money into a pension fund or investment, portfolio managers buy bonds and shares with it from companies. Those companies use that money to invest in building factories, businesses, offices, and of course they make a profit on their investments. That profit is used to pay interest and dividends. These interest payments, dividends and increased share values constitute the returns paid to investors.”

The outstanding performance of UFS-groomed fund managers is a comment on the quality of the students UFS delivers. “For decades we have had a BComm degree that includes an option to specialise in what was previously called Money and Banking, and is now called Financial Economics. We are the only faculty that has had a focus on Financial Economics going back all the way to the late 1970s. In that sense we train people and give them an education that allows them to perform like this,” said Prof Burger. 

Moving forward, the faculty is looking at partnerships with financial institutions that can strengthen that capacity and give students increased value for money. 

News Archive

UFS boasts with most advanced chemical research apparatus in Africa
2005-11-23

Celebrating the inauguration of the NMR were from the left Prof Frederick Fourie (Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS),  Dr Detlef Müller (Development Scientist and Manager:  Africa and Asia of Bruker in Germany, the supplier of the NMR), Prof Jannie Swarts (head of the head of the Division Physical Chemistry at the UFS) and Prof Herman van Schalkwyk (Dean:  Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS). Photo: Lacea Loader

UFS boasts with most advanced chemical research apparatus in Africa 

The University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Chemistry now boasts with some of the most advanced chemical research apparatus in Africa after the latest addition, a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer, was inaugurated today by the Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Frederick Fourie.  The NMR is used to analyse molecular structures. 

Last month the Department of Chemistry celebrated the installation of the most advanced single crystal X-ray diffractometer in Africa.  The diffractometer provides an indispensable technique to investigate among others the solid state of compounds for medicinal application.

“Three years ago the UFS executive management realised that, if we want to build a university of excellence, we should invest in research.  We started to think strategically about chemistry and decided to bring the apparatus at the Department of Chemistry on a more competitive standard.  Strategic partnerships were therefore secured with companies like Sasol,” said Prof Fourie during the inauguration ceremony.

“The installation of the NMR symbolises the ability of the UFS to turn academic areas around.  I hope that this is the beginning of a decade of excellence for chemistry at the UFS,” said Prof Fourie.

”The catalogue value of the Bruker 600 MHz NMR is approximately R11 million.  With such an advanced apparatus we are now able to train much more post-graduate students,“ said Prof Jannie Swarts, head of the Division Physical Chemistry at the UFS.

”The NMR is the flagship apparatus of the UFS Department of Chemistry that enables chemists to look at compounds more easily at a molecular level.  Research in chemistry is critically dependent on NMR, which is a technique that can determine the composition of reactants and products in complicated chemical reactions, with direct application is most focus areas in chemistry,“ said Prof Swarts.

”Parts of the spectrometer consists of non-commercial items that were specifically designed for the UFS Department of Chemistry to allow the study of unique interactions in e.g. rhodium and platinum compounds,” said Prof Swarts.

According to Prof Swarts the NMR enables chemists to conduct investigations on the following:

To evaluate for example the complex behaviour of DNA in proteins as well as the analysis of illegal drugs sometimes used by athletes. 
It provides an indispensable technique to investigate compounds for medicinal application for example in breast, prostate and related bone cancer identification and therapy, which are currently synthesised in the Department of Chemistry.  
It can also be applied to the area of homogeneous catalysis where new and improved compounds for industrial application are synthesized and characterised, whereby Sasol and even the international petrochemical industry could benefit. This analytical capacity is highly rated, especially in the current climate of increased oil prices.
The NMR can detect and identify small concentrations of impurities in feed streams in the petrochemical industry, e.g. at Sasol and also the international petrochemical industry.  These minute amounts of impurities can result in metal catalyst deactivation or decomposition and can cause million of rands worth in product losses.
It is indispensable for studying the complexity of samples that is non-crystalline. These materials represent the vast majority of chemical compounds such as solvents, gasoline, cooking oil, cleaning agents and colorants as examples. 

According to Prof Swarts the general medical technique of MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) in use at larger hospitals, is based on NMR technology.

”The NMR apparatus enabled the Department of Chemistry to characterise complex molecules that were synthesised for the multi-national company, FARMOFS-PAREXEL, and to negotiate research agreements with overseas universities,” said Prof Swarts. 

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel:  (051) 401-2584
Cell:  083 645 2454
E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
22 November 2005
 

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