Africa’s biggest fund manager loses head of impact investing

Roy Rajhdar, the executive head of impact investing at Africa’s biggest fund manager, has quit.

Rajhdar’s departure comes after South Africa’s Public Investment Corp. told staff on May 6 that his 14-month suspension had been lifted. Rajhdar on Thursday confirmed his departure, but declined to comment further.

The executive’s exit comes after employees of the Isibaya Fund, which includes the department Rajhdar ran, accused some of the money manager’s senior leaders of causing an “existential crisis” by allowing a mandate with its biggest client to expire. The mandate enabled the fund to make unlisted investments.

The employees wrote a nine-page letter to the company’s investment committee detailing their complaints, which included allegations of poor management. Rajhdar was not a subject of the complaints.

A judicial inquiry last year found that the PIC’s management flouted internal procedures and made questionable investment decisions over many years. The money manager oversees R1.9 trillion ($139 billion) of assets, which mainly comprises civil servants’ pensions.