Flynn, let’s start with the headline. Sasfin Wealth is now Otto1890. What was the strategic catalyst behind this rebrand?
The catalyst was clarity. The broader Sasfin Group went through a significant strategic reset, exiting banking, delisting from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and repositioning as an investment holding company. That gave our business the opportunity to define itself on its own terms. We have operated with a high degree of independence for years, with our own board and management team. The rebrand simply makes visible what was already true: we are a standalone, focused investment specialist.
Many rebrands signal change but yours emphasises continuity. How did you ensure that the message “same people, same expertise, renewed mission” came through clearly?
By letting our people carry it. More than 20% of our team have been with the business for over 15 years, and many of our client relationships span generations. Clients still deal with the same adviser, the same portfolio manager, the same voice on the phone. When the people don’t change, the continuity message doesn’t need much marketing, it just needs to be true.
What does the name Otto1890 signify, and how does it connect to your heritage and long-standing reputation for trust?
On 11 February 1890, Otto Pollak became one of the first members of the JSE, later joined by his brother Max and by Eric Freemantle. That business evolved, through Frankel Pollak, into what became Sasfin Wealth. So, the name is not a marketing invention, it puts our founder and our founding year on the door. Very few firms in South Africa can point to 136 years of continuous service to investors. We can, and we should.
You’ve said that trust is the one thing that cannot be rebranded. How does Otto1890 preserve and strengthen the trust built under Sasfin Wealth? In an industry where trust is earned over decades, how do you reassure clients that the rebrand is an evolution, not a departure?
Trust lives with people and conduct, not with logos. Everything that earned it, our governance, our investment philosophy, our transparency, our regulatory standing carries across unchanged. What I say to clients is simple: judge us by the same standards you always have. The name on the letterhead has changed; the accountability behind it has not. That is how a rebrand becomes an evolution rather than a departure.
How does Otto1890’s governance, investment philosophy and client-centric approach remain unchanged – and why is that non-negotiable?
Because those things are the product. Clients don’t buy a brand; they buy disciplined decision-making, sound governance and advice given in their interest. Coming from a risk and governance background, I am perhaps biased, but I would argue our governance culture is a genuine competitive asset. It is non-negotiable because the moment you trade it for growth, you have mortgaged the very thing clients are paying for.
How does your Private Clients team embody the legacy of Sasfin Wealth while driving the future vision of Otto1890?
The Private Clients team is where the heritage is most tangible; investment specialists who have walked alongside families through market cycles, successions and everything in between. At the same time, they are driving the future: global bespoke portfolios, cleaner digital reporting and the deliberate adoption of technology to give the front line more time with clients, not less.
How does Otto1890 support Independent financial advisers (IFAs) in delivering more personalised, transparent and efficient client outcomes?
By providing the infrastructure that shouldn’t have to be built alone. Institutional-quality portfolio management, transparent reporting and an increasingly capable technology layer. We have also developed practical succession solutions for advisers approaching retirement, so that their clients’ continuity, and the value of the practice they have spent a career building, is properly protected.
What differentiates Otto1890’s IFA partnerships from traditional wealth-management models?
Alignment. Traditional models too often treat the IFA as a distribution channel. We treat the adviser’s practice as the client; we succeed when it thrives. That changes the conversation from selling product to solving problems, capacity, succession, investment capability and reporting, in whatever combination the practice needs.
How does the rebrand position Otto1890 as a more agile, more focused partner to IFAs?
As a standalone business with our own board, decisions that once travelled through a listed banking group are now made down the corridor. For IFAs, that speed shows up in practical ways, onboarding, approvals, problem-solving and our focus is undivided. Investments are no longer one division among many; they are the whole business.
What strategic priorities define Otto1890’s next chapter and how do they build on the foundation laid under Sasfin Wealth?
Three things:
- Deepen our client relationships.
- Grow our IFA partnerships.
- Keep building our global investment capability on a base of more than R100-billion in assets.
Underpinning all three is investment in our people and in technology, done deliberately, with proper training and governance, rather than chasing every new tool for its own sake.
If you look five years ahead, what does success look like for Otto1890?
Success is boring in the best way, clients who have stayed with us through another market cycle, a new generation of family relationships, advisers telling their peers that this is the natural home for independent practice and a business that has grown without compromising a single governance standard. Do that, and the numbers look after themselves.
What role do you see Otto1890 playing in shaping the future of South Africa’s wealth-management landscape?
Championing independence and raising the bar on transparency. South African investors deserve advice that is free of conflict, portfolios built on merit and fees they can understand. If a 136-year-old firm with real scale keeps proving that model works commercially, it becomes harder for the rest of the industry to argue otherwise. That is a legacy worth building on.
What is the single message you want IFAs and clients to take away from this rebrand?
Nothing you valued has changed. What has changed is our freedom to focus entirely on you.
And finally, if you had to describe Otto1890 in one sentence to a client who trusted you for decades, what would you say?
We are the same people who have looked after you all along, now carrying our founder’s name, with our future entirely in our own hands.
