Rating release

Agusto & Co. hereby upgrades the rating of ARM Investment Managers Limited (“ARM IM” or “the Manager”) to “AA(IM)”. The rating expires on 28 February 2019.  

The rating upgrade is supported by the Manager’s strengthened governance structure and improved efficiency in operations. ARM IM appointed an experienced independent director to the Board of Directors in 2017, which we believe strengthened corporate governance, in line with best practice. The Manager also implemented Straight-Through-Processing in operations to limit manual intervention and reduce turnaround time for payments to clients, price publication, reporting and onboarding of new products.

ARM IM is one the largest asset managers in Nigeria, with over S58;126 billion in Assets under Management as at 31 December 2017. ARM IM’s track record remains strong with well-defined and established processes for research, decision making and risk management. The senior management teams of the Manager and the shared services of ARM Group are stable and experienced.

In our opinion, the Manager’s main challenge is to leverage technology in the decision making process to ensure the system is sufficiently robust to manage a broadening portfolio of securities.

Notes to release

A INVESTMENT MANAGER rating of “AA(IM)” indicates an investment manager with VERY GOOD investment and risk management capabilities.

The opinions expressed in this rating release do not represent investment of other advice and should therefore not be construed as such. Visit www.agusto.com for further information

This Rating Release is transmitted to you for the sole purpose of dissemination through your newspaper / magazine / agency. The rating release may be used by you in full or in part without changing the meaning or context thereof but with due credit to Agusto & Co.