Sanlam Private Investments, the South African brokerage and private client portfolio manager, has bolstered its investment team with five appointments for its Cape Town and Pretoria operations, Money Web reports.

According to the publication, André Vos, former head of the institutional sales desk at Religare Hichens Harrison’s South African operation, has been appointed branch manager for SPI in Cape Town and joins the firm's executive committee.

Also joining the Cape Town office is Hannes Brand, who has spent the last 31 years with Sanlam Investment Management, where he was responsible for the portfolios of a number of institutional clients.

SPI is to complete its acquisition of Cornerstone Fund Managers from its co-founders Peter Duminy and BDO in July, following which Mr Duminy will become the branch manager of SPI’s Pretoria operation and a member of SPI’s executive committee.

Mr Duminy launched Cornerstone Fund with BDO in 1998, having previously worked as a private client portfolio manager at Merrill Lynch. Following his appointment, Danie Wolmarans and Mary Molfessis will also join SPI from Cornerstone.

“The expanded team represents a good blend of leadership capabilities, investment experience and market savvy,” said Daniël Kriel, SPI’s chief executive.

SPI was formed in 1999 under the brand Gensec Private Clients and subsequently acquired the South African private client businesses of ABN Amro and Merrill Lynch Private Clients in 2001 and 2002 respectively.

The firm, which currently has R50 billion ($6.2 billion) in assets under management, re-branded to Sanlam Private Investments in 2002 in line with its institutional counterpart, Sanlam Investment Management.