It’s results season and after companies report their numbers, director and shareholder activity often picks up. As earnings hit the books, insiders adjust stakes — some cashing in, others stepping up — while large managers shift positions to reflect changing valuations and strategy. The past fortnight shows a mix of routine housekeeping and moves that hint at how the market’s big players are positioning themselves for the months ahead.
Allan Gray disclosed holding just more than 10% of Life Healthcare — enough to move the needle on votes and put the manager squarely in the engagement seat. Life Healthcare is a large private hospital operator that has been actively reshaping its portfolio and capital policy this year; a 10% position changes the incentives around dialogue over strategy and capital allocation.
Across the Atlantic, Coronation and other South African managers continued to pile into UK-listed tech and wealth names: Coronation’s recent upward moves in Bytes Technology Group underline how South African asset managers still drive cross-listed demand for mid-cap UK tech resellers. BlackRock’s 7.86% position in Mondi is an important reminder that headline percentages now often mix cash equity and instrument-based exposure (securities lending, contracts for difference and so on), so the numeric stake overstates the guaranteed voting power.
Coronation and other South African managers continued to pile into UK-listed tech and wealth names
Between November 4 and November 5, Libstar’s register was restructured through private transfers: a small distribution from APEF, Cearus exiting and Ribbon Ventures ending up with a 34.9% beneficial interest after buying APEF. This wasn’t market trading as much as private housekeeping — a common private equity-style reshuffle that leaves a single large beneficial holder in place and simplifies who will drive strategy. That makes Ribbon the obvious shareholder to watch for any strategic changes.
At Outsurance Group, the sale of about R24m of shares by director Nathaniel Simpson, CEO of Youi, stands out, but not as a directional signal — it comes amid a strong results backdrop. The insurer reported a 33.7% jump in normalised earnings for the year ended June 2025, with premium growth and claims discipline driving performance. With the business humming and dividends up, a senior director taking some chips off the table aligns with personal liquidity planning or balanced portfolio management rather than loss of faith.
At Old Mutual, nonexecutive director Jan-Hendrik Erasmus’s near-simultaneous purchase and sale — a buy of 212,716 shares and a smaller sale of 17,205 on the same day — show routine portfolio adjustment more than governance commentary. Old Mutual held a capital markets event around that time and the investment may simply reflect a director positioning their personal holdings around a visible trading window.
In the property space, outgoing Growthpoint Properties CEO Norbert Sasse sold about R11.5m worth of shares across two days. The timing coincides with a rebound in Growthpoint’s outlook: after entering financial 2025 with a contraction forecast, the group upgraded to positive growth. The disposal therefore may reflect personal liquidity in a stabilising environment, though any reduction of insider skin in the game is worth noting, given the sensitivity of real estate investment trusts to interest rate and property market shifts.
At Santova, director Lance van Zyl sold two sizeable tranches (81,002 shares, then 418,998), resulting in total proceeds of about R3.5m. Santova posted a modest revenue decline in financial 2025 and margin pressure in its logistics business. The trade may reflect simple option vesting or personal rebalancing rather than a red-flag exit, but in a smaller firm, large insider disposals always merit attention for trend direction and confidence levels.
At Northam Platinum, two family-linked disclosures show small purchases: 6,997 shares via an associate of Wouter Hanekom, and 800 shares by his spouse, Leoné. Northam has shown steady operations but remains exposed to commodity and cost pressures. These purchases feel like modest signals of confidence.
On the A2X
Trading activity on A2X over the past fortnight continues to show heavy concentration in a handful of major names. Investec topped the list in value terms with R49.3m changing hands, representing 18% of the stock’s A2X turnover. Prosus was close behind, seeing R385m move through, accounting for 17.4 % of its trading on the platform. Remgro recorded R70.7m in trades (15.2 %), while Glencore saw R124.8m exchanged (14.1%). Shoprite rounded out the top five, with R126m in trades (12.4%). Collectively, these names show that both domestic blue chips and cross-listed international stocks continue to dominate alternative exchange liquidity, offering a snapshot of where investor focus is concentrated outside the JSE.
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