Investec Bank
Encyclopedia
Investec is an international specialist banking
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...

 and asset management group. It provides a range of financial products and services
Financial services
Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money. Among these organizations are credit unions, banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies,...

 to a select client base in three principal markets: the United Kingdom, South Africa and Australia. Investec is listed on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...

 and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Investec is a FTSE 100
FTSE 100 Index
The FTSE 100 Index, also called FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the footsie , is a share index of the 100 most highly capitalised UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange....

 company.

Investec's South African headquarters are at 100 Grayston Drive Sandown, Sandton.

Investec's UK headquarters are at 2 Gresham Street in Central London
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...

.

History

Investec was founded as a small leasing and financing company in 1974 in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

 by Larry Nestadt, Errol Grolman and Ian Kantor. It has expanded through a combination of organic growth and strategic acquisitions.

It secured a banking licence in 1980 and was first listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa in 1986, after merging with Metboard, a trust company. In 1988, Investec Bank Limited was restructured into Investec Group Limited ("IGL"), giving Investec Management and staff control of the company.

In 1990, Investec acquired property management company I. Kuper & Company (Pty) Limited, Corporate Merchant Bank Limited (formerly Hill Samuel Merchant Bank Limited) and trade finance company Reichmans Limited.

Investec entered the UK market in 1992, by acquiring London- based Allied Trust Bank Limited ('ATB'), this was the first international acquisition by the Group.

In 1998 Investec acquired Guinness Mahon
Guinness Mahon
Guinness Mahon was an Irish merchant bank originally based in Dublin but more recently with major operations in London.-History:The firm was founded in Dublin in 1836 by brewer Robert Rundell Guinness, cousin of the brewer Arthur Guinness, and John Ross Mahon, an estate agent. A London office...

, a leading London based merchant bank, and Henderson Crosthwaite, its stockbroking arm, for £95m. It also bought Hambros plc
Hambros Bank
Hambros Bank was a British bank based in London. The Hambros bank was a specialist in Anglo-Scandinavian business with expertise in trade finance and investment banking, and was the sole banker to the Scandinavian kingdoms for many years...

, another London based merchant bank the same year.

It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...

 in 2002. In 2003 in a Black Economic Empowerment
Black Economic Empowerment
Black Economic Empowerment is a programme launched by the South African government to redress the inequalities of Apartheid by giving previously disadvantaged groups economic opportunities previously not available to them...

 transaction empowerment partners acquired a 21.5% stake in the South Africa-listed Investec.

In 2005 Investec sold its UK Private Client Stockbroking operation, Carr Sheppards Crosthwaite Limited to Rensburg plc. Investec retains a 47.7% interest in the combined entity, Rensburg Sheppards plc.

In 2007 Investec plc acquired Kensington Group plc and Experien (Pty) Ltd.

Investec plc acquired the remaining shares in Rensburg Sheppards plc in 2010.

Operations

Investec employs approximately 6,000 people worldwide and operates primarily in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It also has banking operations in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...

, Guernsey
Guernsey
Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...

, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, Jersey
Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...

, Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

, Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Products and divisional structure

Investec is organised as a network comprising six business divisions: Asset Management, Wealth
Wealth management
Wealth management is an investment advisory discipline that incorporates financial planning, investment portfolio management and a number of aggregated financial services...

 & Investment
Investment management
Investment management is the professional management of various securities and assets in order to meet specified investment goals for the benefit of the investors...

, Property
Property
Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...

, Private Banking
Private banking
Private banking is banking, investment and other financial services provided by banks to private individuals investing sizable assets. The term "private" refers to the customer service being rendered on a more personal basis than in mass-market retail banking, usually via dedicated bank advisers...

, Investment Banking
Investment banking
An investment bank is a financial institution that assists individuals, corporations and governments in raising capital by underwriting and/or acting as the client's agent in the issuance of securities...

 and Capital Markets. The head office provides certain group-wide integrating functions and is also responsible for central funding and the Trade Finance business.

Legal structure

In July 2002, Investec became the first South African company to list on both the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges, by implementing a dual listed companies (DLC) structure.

The main features of the DLC structure are:
  • Investec plc and Investec Limited are separate legal entities and listings, but are bound together by contractual agreements and mechanisms.
  • Investec plc is the holding company for the majority of the group's non-Southern African operations and Investec Limited is the holding company for the majority of the group's Southern African operations.
  • Investec operates as if it is a single unified economic enterprise.
  • Shareholders have common economic and voting interests as if Investec plc and Investec Limited were a single company.
  • Creditors, however, are ring-fenced to either Investec plc or Investec Limited as there are no cross guarantees between the companies.

Empowerment in South Africa

Investec's approach to transformation within South Africa involves:
  • Fostering the creation of new black entrepreneurial platforms
  • Serving as a source of empowerment financing
  • Encouraging internal transformation by bringing about greater representivity in the workplace. Investec focuses on creating black entrepreneurs within its organisation

Rugby

Investec is involved in a number of rugby sponsorships around the world, as they feel that "rugby embodies Investec's beliefs in collaborative teamwork, innovative play and determination and it’s for these reasons that we support many rugby initiatives".

Investec currently sponsors the Investec Internationals Series (formerly the Investec Challenge) played at Twickenham Stadium
Twickenham Stadium
Twickenham Stadium is a stadium located in Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is the largest rugby union stadium in the United Kingdom and has recently been enlarged to seat 82,000...

, England. This sponsorship was renewed in early 2010, extending the sponsorship till the end of 2011.

Investec is in the third year as the sponsor of the Investec Super Rugby competition in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Investec also supports the International Rugby Academy South Africa which aims to capitalise on an untapped demand for high performance in playing and coaching rugby in South Africa.

In 2010 Investec announced that they are the official sponsors of the Tri Nations
Tri Nations
Tri Nations may refer to:In Rugby union:* Tri Nations , the former name of The Rugby Championship a competition featuring Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa* Pacific Tri-Nations, the series between Fiji, Samoa and Tonga...

 rugby competition in New Zealand for the second year running.

Horse racing

Investec has become a long term sponsor of the Epsom Derby
Epsom Derby
The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...

 festival in the UK until 2013. The illustrious horse-racing event is now known as the Investec Derby.

Investec also sponsors the Investec Cape Derby in South Africa.

Football

Investec has become the official shirt sponsor for Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

's domestic cup games and UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 games for the 2010/2011 and UEFA Europa League games for the 2011/2012 seasons. This sponsorship marked the first promotion into the football world for Investec.

Other

Other sponsorships include the Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...

 90th Birthday Tribute in London's Hyde Park and Russian Tennis Player Elena Dementieva
Elena Dementieva
Elena Viatcheslavovna Dementieva is a retired Russian professional tennis player. Dementieva is most notable for winning the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She won 16 WTA singles titles and reached the finals of the 2004 French Open and 2004 US Open. Dementieva achieved a...

for the 2008 Wimbledon tournament as well as the Australian Open in January 2009.

They have also recently secured a sponsorship deal with the English Cricket Board, Sponsoring the English test cricket side for 10 years.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK