| RMB Holdings | |
|---|---|
| Type | Public |
| Traded As | RMH |
| Sector | Financials |
| Industry | Banking |
| Products | Investment bbanking, fund management, private wealth management, trading solutions and advisory services |
| Address | Think Precinct, 1 Merchant PI, Cnr Friedman Drive and Rivonia Rd, Sandton, 2196, South Africa |
| Phone | 227 11 282 8000 |
| Total Assets | R53,2 Billion |
| Website | RMB-online.co.za |
Rand Merchant Bank Holdings is a South African holding company with a diverse investment portfolio in the financial services sector. It owns 34% of First Rand, which in turn owns FNB Limited and other financial and investment firms. Additionally, it holds full ownership of RMB Property, a 27% stake in Atterbury, and a 34% stake in Perpetua.
The company has expanded significantly with the launch of Rand Merchant Investments Managers and AlphaCode. RMI has invested in eight asset managers, including CoreShares, Granite Asset Management, Northstar Asset Management, Perpetua Investment Managers, Polar, Tantalum, Truffle Asset Management, and Sentio Capital Management.
AlphaCode, another subsidiary, has also made notable acquisitions, starting with a 25.1% stake in Merchant Capital. It has since acquired Guidepost, Prodigy Finance, Luno, and Entersekt, among others.
A brief history of Rand Merchant Bank Holdings
It started off as Rand Consolidated Investments, founded by G Ferreira, Paul Harris and Laurie Dippenaar in 1977. It was with a merger between Rand Consolidated Investments and Rand Merchant Bank that the company was named Rand Merchant Bank Holdings.
Rand Merchant Bank was owned by Johann Rupert who joined forces with Dippenaar and his partners. The two got into merger after Rand Consolidated Investment failed to secure a banking license and ended up merging with Rand Merchant Bank.
Rand Merchant Bank Holdings
In 1987 Rand Merchant Holdings registered as a bank controlling company. RMB Holdings acquired a stake in Momentum life by buying shares from Remgro and Absa.
The company later transferred its entire stake in RMB to Momentum life and increased its ownership to 76.4%. In the same year of buying Momentum life in 1992 RMB holding went further to establish Discovery Limited with its CEO Gore.
In 1993 the company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange as RMH. The same year its normalized earnings exceeded R100 million which was a company record at the time.
By 1997 normalised earnings had exceeded R250 million with the company growing at a fast rate with an increase of 150% in earnings in just 5 years.
Rand Merchant Bank Holdings formed OUTsurance a short-term insurance company in 1998 through its acquisition of First National Bank and Southern Life. Anglo American Corporation and RMB Holdings entered in an agreement to merge each company’s financial services into a unified group.
The merger gave birth to FirstRand and was listed on 25 May 1998 with 20,43% and 25%going to Anglo American and RMB Holdings respectively.
In 2011 RMB Holdings together with Remgro and FirstRand agreed to restructure their insurance assets. This was done by splitting off their entire insurance portfolio to RMI Holdings.
Rand Merchant Bank products and services
Since Rand Merchant Bank is a subsidiary of RMB Holdings, we will only discuss products and services offered by Rand Merchant Bank and not that of RMB Holdings as a group.
This is because this article is mainly focused on the banking side of RMB and the history of the holding company. Therefore, services by Rand Merchant Bank Holdings and member companies go beyond this article and are not covered in detail except those of RMB Limited.
Banking services
Rand Merchant Bank offers cheque accounts to businesses and individuals. RMB cheque accounts are only for private banking and don’t offer standard cheque cards. To qualify for an RMB cheque account you need to earn at least R750,000.00 per year or have assets worth R15,000,000.00.
Credit cards are available for both personal and business. You can also choose to bundle your cheque and credit account with the fusion account that allows you to have a cheque and credit account in one card.
If you are a user of foreign currencies, you can make use of the RMB Global Account. With an account, you can transact and save in nine foreign currencies.
You can link your Global Account with a global debit card to access your foreign currency savings. The card allows you to access over 1000 airport lounges across the world.
RMB offers wealth and investment management services that help you look after your assets while busy enjoying life. Tax-free savings are a great way to invest as you can earn interest in saving your money and not pay tax on interest earned. Wealth and portfolio management services are offered to manage your worldwide investment portfolio.
Lending
Lending from RMB takes many forms and some of the minor borrowings are the revolving loan, Instant loans and an overdraft. These are unsecured and rarely is it necessary to submit any proof of income or employment.
Property financing is a service offered by Rand Merchant Bank. This involves lending for a property, such as lending for residential, commercial property purchase or building.
Property lending has many requirements involved that include but not limited to checking proof of income, financial statements, tax returns etc.
You can borrow against your investment portfolio with securities-based lending. The securities based lending allows you to borrow money whenever you need it provided you put part of your portfolio investment as collateral. This allows you to be liquid without liquidating your security investments.
Investment management
Rand Merchant Bank offers wealth and portfolio management services to manage your wealth according to your needs. You also get expert advice on emerging markets and trending investment opportunities that you can invest in.
Global wealth solutions offer investment and wealth solutions that help with your every investment need. You can transact offshore, open offshore trusts and engage in foreign exchange markets.
RMB holdings Limited Board members
| Name |
|---|
| Jonathan Durand Remgro Ltd |
| Paul Harris |
| Lauritz Dippenaar |
| Peter Cooper |
| Hermanus Bosman |
| Sonja Sebotsa |
| Johan Burger |
| Mafison Morobe |
| Albertnah Kekana |
| James Teeger |
| Ralph Mupita MTN Group Ltd |
| Obakeng Phetwe |
| Erik Lagerstroem |
| Matsotso Mahlare |
Conclusion
Rand Merchant Bank Holdings Limited has set a benchmark as the most competitive financial services holding company in South Africa. With the help of Johan Rupert, the company managed to grow from a small company to a large Holding company.
RMB Holdings has been focused on investing in financial technology companies using its subsidiary AlphaCode. The company is moving with times and has acknowledged the impact of technology in the financial services sector.
