Investec deploys the power of "people compounding"

Investec Asset Management is coming up for its 19th anniversary and, before too much longer, its founding chief executive Hendrik du Toit explains how he aims to take the firm from "good to great"

Du Toit helped establish Investec Asset Management in South Africa in 1991. He was plucked from Old Mutual, where he was rapidly building on his reputation as one of the country’s brightest academics, to run a new asset management unit. From a couple of pension mandates and a handful of staff, he now heads a firm with some $60bn under management. But du Toit is less interested in the headline number than building a strong, responsive firm to grace the top league. In the asset management industry he is known for an informality and infectious excitement which belies a shrewd expansion stra...