Momentum Investments and Robeco Expand SADC Partnership

In Short

Momentum Investments and Robeco have renewed and expanded a strategic partnership in Southern Africa. The updated deal formally brings Curate Investments into the arrangement.

What Happened

Momentum Investments and Robeco renewed their agreement that started in 2023, keeping Robeco’s quantitative equity (stock) portfolios, research support, and distribution rights in place for the Southern African Development Community.

The expanded partnership now includes Momentum subsidiary Curate Investments. Curate has exclusive access to Robeco’s quantitative equity capabilities for South Africa’s retail discretionary fund management market. Retail discretionary fund management is when an adviser or investment manager makes day-to-day investment decisions on behalf of an individual client.

Curate said it selected Robeco to manage two global equity funds, the Curate Global Emerging Markets Equity Fund and the Curate Global Sustainable Equity Fund. Quantitative investing means using rules and data models (think algorithms with investment “if-then” logic) to build and manage portfolios, rather than relying mainly on a single manager’s judgement.

The firms said investors and advisers can access these strategies through both dollar-denominated funds and local feeder funds. A feeder fund is a local fund that invests into a larger offshore fund, which can make global exposure easier for local clients.

Why It Matters

For wealth managers and advisers in South Africa and the wider SADC region, the deal signals continued demand for systematic investing and global equity exposure, alongside traditional active management.

It also shows how local asset managers are partnering with global firms to deepen research and portfolio construction processes, and to offer more product choice without building every capability in-house.

For retail investors, the practical impact is simpler access to global, rules-based equity strategies, with more flexibility on currency choice and fund structure.