The company was formed as
Investec Asset Management in 1991. It changed its name to Ninety One in spring 2020: the new name is in recognition of the brand's heritage, as it was in 1991 that the investment firm was started in South Africa. The company was demerged from South African financial institution Investec in March 2020. It had been envisaged that 10% of the stock would be offered to the public but Investec decided to retain 25% (rather than just 15% as originally planned) because of market conditions. In October 2024, the firm launched a Sovereign Biodiversity Index, which provides a quantitative way for investors to assess nature and biodiversity risks at the national level. In March 2025, major SA financial services group
Sanlam announced jointly with Ninety One that the latter would be taking ownership of Sanlam Investment Management (SIM), and assuming responsibility for Sanlam Investments UK’s portfolio, which includes third-party assets, balance sheet investments, and the teams managing these funds. As part of this deal, Ninety One will become Sanlam’s primary active asset manager for single-managed local and global products, with the added advantage of preferred access to Sanlam’s extensive South African distribution network. In total, around R400 billion in assets will be transferred to Ninety One, with around 80% of those managed in South Africa. In January 2026, Ninety One announced that the South African component of its acquisition of Sanlam Investment Management (SIM) and the start of its long-term (15-year) strategic relationship with financial services company
Sanlam were expected to be completed on 2 February 2026. ==References==