How do IS’s Advisor and Practice Impact Reports provide “real-time insights that shape future-fit solutions”?
Fay Khan: IS’s Advisor and Practice Impact Reports go beyond static performance reviews by leveraging data engineering, technology and best-practice research to deliver actionable insights in real time. These reports analyse an advisor’s entire book by covering discretionary vs contractual assets, client demographics, age bands, product mix and asset exposure across local and global portfolios. They highlight flow trends, calibration gaps and synergies, enabling advisors to answer three critical questions: What does my book look like? What should it look like? How do I get there?
By visualising AUA splits, product concentration and diversification opportunities, advisors can identify restructuring needs that improve client outcomes. At a practice level, these insights support efficiency, compliance and growth strategies, helping advisors align their advice with evolving client needs while optimising their operational model for sustainability and scalability.
Please explain how you balance the needs of a “tied” advisor force with those of independent advisors and how you overcome potential conflicts of interest.
FK: Alexforbes does not have a tied force. All of the advisors at Alexforbes Wealth and FPC are all independent, who happen to be avid supporters of Alexforbes products and investment solutions. This allows for synergistic servicing to IFAs outside the Alexforbes ecosystem. IS maintains a clear governance framework to balance the needs of Alexforbes’ advisors and independent IFAs outside of the Alexforbes ecosystem. We achieve this by offering a consistent suite of solutions underpinned by impartial research and transparent pricing, ensuring no preferential treatment.
Potential conflicts are mitigated through strict adherence to Treating Customers Fairly principles and by separating product development from distribution influence. This approach fosters trust and positions IS as a neutral partner focused on IFA practice prosperity and client outcomes.
Please elaborate on the unique succession planning process where Alexforbes may transition/buy a retiring advisor’s book?
FK: Alexforbes’ succession planning process offers retiring advisors a structured exit strategy by transitioning or acquiring their book of business. Key criteria includes client suitability, portfolio alignment with Alexforbes’ investment philosophy and full regulatory compliance. This arrangement ensures continuity for clients, preserving their financial plans and relationships while minimising disruption. For advisors, it provides peace of mind and fair value realisation for their life’s work, safeguarding both their legacy and their clients’ long-term interests.
How does AF Invest, your digital launchpad, facilitate empowerment of emerging IFAs, particularly black advisors?
FK: AF Invest is a transformative digital launchpad designed to remove traditional barriers for new and emerging IFAs, particularly black advisors seeking to establish and grow their practices. By providing a fully integrated, low-cost advisory platform, AF Invest enables seamless market entry without the heavy infrastructure and compliance burdens that often hinder startups.
Advisors gain access to automated portfolio modelling, real-time analytics and compliance tracking within a single, intuitive system which enables them to deliver professional, future-fit advice from day one. This digital-first approach not only levels the playing field but also positions emerging IFAs to compete effectively in a rapidly evolving financial landscape.
How do IS’s Best Practice team and Academy support IFAs?
FK: IS leverages the broader Alexforbes Best Practice team and Academy which empower IFAs through structured learning, operational guidance and regulatory updates. The Academy offers accredited training programmes covering advice standards, investment strategies and practice management. Meanwhile, the Best Practice team provides hands-on support in implementing efficient workflows, compliance frameworks and client engagement models, thus helping advisors elevate both technical and business capabilities.
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With over 16 years of experience, Fay has honed her expertise primarily within the asset management industry. Her career journey includes roles as an equity analyst, multi-manager research analyst and DFM portfolio manager at institutions such as Sanlam Investments, Glacier by Sanlam and PPS Investments. Notably, she played a pivotal role in refining investment-related processes and launching a DFM at PPS Investments from 2017 to 2020. |
How does the operational relationship and value-add derived from your strategic partnership with Mercer work? How does this global relationship directly enhance your local and offshore asset allocation, manager research and tactical views?
Nadir Thokan: Our partnership with Mercer delivers global research depth and tactical insights that enhance local and offshore asset allocation. Mercer’s scale provides access to world-class manager research, risk analytics and macroeconomic views, which we integrate into IS portfolios. Rather than building an in-house international capability at the scale and depth that Mercer offers – which would be costly and time-intensive – we leverage Mercer’s expertise to deliver institutional-grade solutions and research to retail clients, ensuring agility and global best practice.
In summary, IS is able to leverage the depth and resources of the largest multi-manager in the world, a platform providing research and/or packaged solutions as applicable to our client base without having to invest the significant amount of capital required to replicate such a platform.
What does your DFM strategy of “Simplify, Elevate, Multiply” actually entail?
NT: The “Multiply” pillar focuses on accelerating advisor practice growth through enabling the advisor to focus purely on the advice process where they can add the greatest value to their clients. By staying focused on their core competence – where they can have the most meaningful impact – positive client outcomes are multiplied and the advisor is fully enabled to take this collectively enhanced proposition out to the market and grow clients’ assets under management, and also take on additional clients that can be efficiently serviced.
IS enables the advisor to focus on their core advice competence due to its comprehensive offering across investment research, reporting functionality, investment implementation and administration. It is thus aptly named “Multiply” as the enhanced outcomes for clients are increased in a non-linear fashion by ensuring specialists within each part of the value chain are focusing purely on their core competence.
IS supports IFAs “beyond investment management” through addressing business sustainability, succession planning and long-term growth. Please explain how you do this in each of these aspects of an advisor’s business.
NT: IS supports IFAs beyond portfolio construction by addressing three critical areas: business sustainability through cost-efficient platforms and compliance tools; succession planning via structured book transition programmes; and long-term growth through training, technology integration and strategic partnerships. These initiatives ensure advisors build resilient practices capable of thriving in a dynamic regulatory and market environment.
IS also offers a service that evolves as the IFA practice moves along its life cycle to ensure that the value proposition is constantly relevant to the life stage of the IFA practice.
What is the minimum AUM threshold for a bespoke mandate and at what point in the investment committee process does the advisor’s input reach its limit?
NT: For bespoke mandates, the minimum AUM threshold typically starts at R250-million converted into model portfolio solutions per practice, ensuring scale for customisation. Advisors have a “seat at the table” during mandate design, suggestions for potential asset allocation tilts or manager research inputs and strategic discussions, but their input concludes before final investment committee decisions, which remain governed by IS’s fiduciary and risk frameworks to protect client outcomes. Where an IFA is implementing model portfolio or customised unit trust fund of fund solutions through their own Category 2 discretionary licence, IS would provide investment consulting services into the client’s investment committee structures with the IFA’s investment committee executing all final investment decisions.
IS has a range of investment offerings from low-cost passives to niche alternatives. What is the range of fees that comes with this offering?
NT: IS offers a spectrum of investment solutions from low-cost passive portfolios with fees starting around 0.25% to niche alternative strategies that can range up to 1.5%, depending on complexity and underlying asset class. This tiered structure ensures accessibility for cost-sensitive clients while catering to those seeking specialised, high-alpha opportunities with a higher fee budget.
Of course these various solutions across this cost continuum can be blended together to create a hybrid solution as required by any particular IFA client in line with their stipulated advice process and client needs.
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His work in developing investment frameworks and solutions has established him as an integral member of the Investment Solutions Discretionary Fund Management team at Alexforbes, facilitating the integration of best investment practices into advisory services. |
