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"The brokerage will target South African institutional investors, such as money managers and pension fund"
Clifford Sacks, hired by Renaissance Capital from Bank of America Merrill Lynch to build its African equity business, plans to complete the hires he needs for the Johannesburg-based operation over the next six months.
“We want a business that covers equities from Cape to Cairo,” Sacks, 47, said in an interview in Johannesburg. “We’ll be the first serious pan-African shop and, in some regions, will look at having joint ventures. We want to make sure we have people on the ground.”
Sacks, who spent 13 years at Merrill Lynch and helped turn the brokerage’s South African unit into the top-ranked equities trader in a survey of fund managers by the Financial Mail, will hire at least 25 people for the office. The business, which will span research, sales and trading, capital markets, derivative products and mergers and acquisitions, will focus mainly on the metals and mining, oil and gas, financial services and telecommunications industries, he said.
Opening a Johannesburg office gives RenCap, which already operates in five African countries including Nigeria, Kenya and Zimbabwe, a presence in the continent’s biggest economy. Sacks joins less than a month after Stephen Jennings, the New Zealander who co-founded RenCap in 1995, returned as chief executive officer of the Moscow-based investment bank to guide its expansion into Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Sacks was flown to Jennings’ second home in Oxford in mid- January and spent the day with him. The meeting helped convince Sacks of RenCap’s strategy on the continent and left him with “a good idea” of how to build the business.
‘Building Block’
“The first and most important building block is research,” said Sacks, who was born in Polokwane, about 330 kilometers (205 miles) north of Johannesburg, and first joined Merrill in New York from UBS AG. “We will be looking for people who have a good track record and have been doing what they do for five or 10 years and are now looking for something new.”
The South African business will link into research to that RenCap already produces on stocks such as First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Kenya’s Safaricom Ltd., Zimbabwe’s Delta Corp. and Zambia Sugar Plc. Toby Mannock recently relocated from RenCap’s Moscow office to Johannesburg as a South African metals and mining investment banker, RenCap said in an e-mailed response to questions.
The brokerage will target South African institutional investors, such as money managers and pension funds, that want to invest in stocks outside the country, Sacks said.
RenCap, which started its African business in 2007, last year participated in 18 transactions across 10 countries, including the $955 million sale of Central African Mining and Exploration Co. to Eurasian Natural Resources Corp., the Moscow- based brokerage said in a statement.
Jennings in the past month has also hired four senior managers, including Nick Andrews from JPMorgan Chase & Co. as global head of equities, and Ali Khalpey as managing director and head of African sales.
“We want a business that covers equities from Cape to Cairo,” Sacks, 47, said in an interview in Johannesburg. “We’ll be the first serious pan-African shop and, in some regions, will look at having joint ventures. We want to make sure we have people on the ground.”
Sacks, who spent 13 years at Merrill Lynch and helped turn the brokerage’s South African unit into the top-ranked equities trader in a survey of fund managers by the Financial Mail, will hire at least 25 people for the office. The business, which will span research, sales and trading, capital markets, derivative products and mergers and acquisitions, will focus mainly on the metals and mining, oil and gas, financial services and telecommunications industries, he said.
Opening a Johannesburg office gives RenCap, which already operates in five African countries including Nigeria, Kenya and Zimbabwe, a presence in the continent’s biggest economy. Sacks joins less than a month after Stephen Jennings, the New Zealander who co-founded RenCap in 1995, returned as chief executive officer of the Moscow-based investment bank to guide its expansion into Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Sacks was flown to Jennings’ second home in Oxford in mid- January and spent the day with him. The meeting helped convince Sacks of RenCap’s strategy on the continent and left him with “a good idea” of how to build the business.
‘Building Block’
“The first and most important building block is research,” said Sacks, who was born in Polokwane, about 330 kilometers (205 miles) north of Johannesburg, and first joined Merrill in New York from UBS AG. “We will be looking for people who have a good track record and have been doing what they do for five or 10 years and are now looking for something new.”
The South African business will link into research to that RenCap already produces on stocks such as First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Kenya’s Safaricom Ltd., Zimbabwe’s Delta Corp. and Zambia Sugar Plc. Toby Mannock recently relocated from RenCap’s Moscow office to Johannesburg as a South African metals and mining investment banker, RenCap said in an e-mailed response to questions.
The brokerage will target South African institutional investors, such as money managers and pension funds, that want to invest in stocks outside the country, Sacks said.
RenCap, which started its African business in 2007, last year participated in 18 transactions across 10 countries, including the $955 million sale of Central African Mining and Exploration Co. to Eurasian Natural Resources Corp., the Moscow- based brokerage said in a statement.
Jennings in the past month has also hired four senior managers, including Nick Andrews from JPMorgan Chase & Co. as global head of equities, and Ali Khalpey as managing director and head of African sales.
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