Regarding Capital Management · est. 2003
Value, held
with conviction.
Inefficiencies exist where institutional capital is absent or faces regulatory constraints. Examples include non-index public companies, private companies requiring capital, assets in certain geographic areas, and ideas that exist outside whatever strong market consensus may dictate market activity at any particular time.
RECM exists to explore these opportunities and, if viable, apply our capital to the few pockets where exceptional returns are possible.
Read more about our approach here
Our History
RECM was founded in 2003 by Piet as a traditional third-party fund manager. Jan joined a few years later. As the business grew, several of its activities were better served under their own dedicated management teams. In 2020, the traditional asset management business was merged into what later became Merchant West Investments.
RECM today has skills well beyond third-party fund management in public markets. We invest across the capital structure of companies, private or listed, in any geography or domicile.
We do two things with that capability. We provide differentiated investment opportunities to our fellow investors, and we use our own balance sheet to partner with like-minded businesses in financial services.
Our own capital sits in every platform we manage, alongside our partners'. We are not a manager of other people's money at arm's length; we are investors first, with partners.
Four principles
Generalists
Freedom and flexibility. We can invest in anything, anywhere, at any time, and the freedom to decline is worth as much as the freedom to act.
Focus
We don't try to be everything to everybody. A small number of pools of capital, each with a specific, non-overlapping mandate.
Partnership
Where we are more than a passive minority, we back management teams that are aligned and capable, and bring oversight and capital allocation discipline.
Business mentality
Comparing opportunities across a wide spectrum, from close proximity to running real businesses, yields insight that screens do not.
Our Funds
Beyond our own balance sheet we invest through a small number of funds. Our money is in each of them.
| Fund | Mandate | Structure |
|---|---|---|
| RECM Flexible Value Prescient QIF | Flexible, valuation-led investing across asset classes | Qualified Investor Hedge Fund |
| RECM Worldwide Flexible Fund | Protecting capital in real terms across four asset classes | Mauritius-domiciled fund |
| RECM “Goede Hoop” SA Small Cap Consortium | Minority interests in quality listed SA small and mid caps | Consortium, by invitation |
| RECM SA Special Situations Prescient RI | Special situations in South African markets | Retail Investor Hedge Fund |
| Beagle Investments (Pty) Ltd | Unlisted BEE investment company | Unlisted Private Company |
| Merchant West SCI Worldwide Flexible Fund | Protecting capital in real terms across four asset classes | Worldwide flexible unit trust |
| Maxia Value Fund | Concentrated, obscure value opportunities off the beaten track | Mauritian Domiciled Fund |