Africa-Press – South-Africa. Brenthurst Wealth has grown from a small, independent boutique to one of South Africa’s largest wealth managers, with R35 billion in assets under management.
Brenthurst Wealth was founded by Magnus Heystek, Brian Butchart, and Sue Heystek in 2004 in Fourways, Johannesburg.
It was a good time to launch an investment business, as South Africa was at the start of a major bull market, bolstered by a big commodity upcycle.
The bull market continued for four to five years, and Brenthurst invested in great funds, including John Biccard’s Value Fund.
Biccard’s fund returned over 40% per year for multiple years, which helped Brenthurst Wealth to rapidly grow its assets under management.
However, the JSE rally did not last. The financial crisis destroyed global markets, and Jacob Zuma became South Africa’s president.
The devastation of having Zuma in charge in South Africa became evident, and the commodity cycle turned downwards in 2011 and 2012.
Magnus Heystek said they realised that South Africa was no longer an environment conducive to long-term investment or to safeguarding clients’ wealth.
Brenthurst Wealth sought better returns internationally and partnered with global fund managers, including Franklin Templeton, Fidelity, and Vanguard.
The firm also established two offshore funds: the Brenthurst Global Balanced Fund and the Brenthurst Global Equity Fund.
Through these initiatives, Brenthurst Wealth clients benefited from the decade-long bull cycle in US technology shares.
Its clients achieved much better returns than those invested in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), and many asset managers followed its example.
In recent years, it strengthened its defensive investment approach by incorporating high-grade bonds, dividend-paying equities, and capital-guaranteed instruments.
It also offers portfolio rebalancing across non-correlated assets, including infrastructure, private credit, gold, hedge funds, and alternative strategies.
From zero to R35 billion in 22 years
Magnus Heystek said in an interview on the Truth Report podcast that he started Brenthurst Wealth after his first company was stolen from him.
He said that he sold his first investment company, Magnus Heystek Investment Services, to a big corporation after they approached him.
“I thought that I really made it. However, they really ripped me off and essentially stole my company,” he said.
He then founded Brenthurst Wealth, which became a phenomenal success. “I should thank the big corporation that took my company,” he said.
He said that Brenthurst Wealth grew to between R30 billion and R35 billion in assets under management. They serve between 2,000 and 3,000 families.
The firm creates custom investment packages for its top clients and serves smaller clients through a range of hand-picked funds.
Magnus Heystek has been the face of Brenthurst Wealth since its launch. However, at 72, he admitted that succession planning becomes important.
Three of his children have qualified as certified financial planners and lawyers, and they are all part of the business.
“They have been working at Brenthurst Wealth for between 10 and 20 years and are all in senior roles at the company,” he said.
He added that the average age of the company’s top employees is between 35 and 40, positioning Brenthurst Wealth for strong future growth.
“I set the standard and the culture at the company. Hopefully, when I am gone, they will continue doing it,” Heystek said.
“I have a good succession plan. My wife is the marketing director, and there is a young CEO running the operations at Brenthurst Wealth.”
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