Pension funds, unit trusts and insurance policies quietly hold a third of the JSE — and the black ownership flowing through them is almost always measured as zero. Alternative Prosperity's Mandated Investment analysis finds it, measures it defensibly, and reports it in a form your verification agency will accept.
Modern capital markets move fast and largely anonymously. That's efficient for trading — but it means a huge share of black economic participation in listed companies simply disappears from view.
Pension funds, collective investment schemes and long-term insurers collectively hold a substantial share of every JSE-listed company's register — often larger than any single identifiable shareholder.
The Codes allow entities to either treat all mandated investment ownership as non-black, or commission a Competent Person's Report. Most default to the first option — and leave real, measurable black ownership unclaimed.
Flow-through measurement needs actuarial technique, financial-services domain knowledge, legal interpretation of the Codes, and the data-matching capability to trace beneficiaries through funds, schemes and policies.
Alternative Prosperity's mandated investment work began as public-interest research, not a product pitch — which is exactly why regulators, verification agencies and listed companies rely on it today.
Our multidisciplinary team spans B-BBEE ownership specialists, financial-services and actuarial expertise, legal interpretation of the Codes, and the data engineering needed to trace ownership through complex fund structures — assembled specifically so every conclusion can withstand verification-agency scrutiny.
Appointed and funded by the JSE, with the support of ASISA, to answer a simple but consequential question: to what extent do black people actually own shares on the JSE?
The resulting methodology was peer-reviewed by National Treasury and audited by independent verification agencies, with findings published widely and presented to Parliament as part of the national "Ownership Monitor" research.
Our team played a direct role in the Financial Sector Code being gazetted under the B-BBEE Act — the same Code that governs how mandated investments must be measured today.
What started as research is now a repeatable service: Independent Competent Person's Reports, prepared to the standard verification agencies expect, for companies who want their real ownership picture reflected.
Our mandated investment process is a single pipeline — not a black box. Each stage feeds the next, and every conclusion can be traced back to its source data.
Public, semi-public and client / project-level data on the underlying investment and its investors.
Identification of mandated investments and application of the relevant measurement methodology.
Voting rights and economic interest measured for black people, black women and black youth, on a flow-through basis.
Corporate finance, B-BBEE committee support, compliance-committee support and scorecard solutions where needed.
Report production, data aggregation and presentation to your verification agency for inclusion in your certificate.
Where the B-BBEE status of a beneficiary cannot be determined, it is treated as non-black. Nothing is ever inflated to reach a better number.
Economic interest is measured on proportionate value, not headcount — because the Codes measure economic participation, not the number of people involved.
Only vested rights are taken into account when calculating a member's proportionate share, so every figure reflects an actual, current entitlement.
| Category of Mandated Investment | How it's treated |
|---|---|
| Collective investment schemes | Full value in scope |
| Pension funds | Full value in scope |
| Long-term insurers (policyholder funds) | Portion from policyholder funds |
| Medical schemes (member funds) | Portion from members' funds |
| Friendly societies | Full value in scope |
| Banks (depositor funds) | Apportioned to depositor ratio |
| Mutual banks (depositor funds) | Apportioned to depositor ratio |
The Codes are specific: mandated investments as defined in Paragraph 3.7.3 of Code Series 100, Statement 100, can only be counted as black-owned if a qualified Competent Person estimates the extent of that ownership. We are that Competent Person.
Every engagement is built around your actual share register and your actual mandated investors — not generic assumptions — and delivered as a formal, citable report ready to hand to your verification agency.
Request a ProposalWe review your current B-BBEE ownership position and identify where mandated investment exposure sits in your register.
You provide share register and underlying investor data; we handle it under strict confidentiality throughout.
Our team applies the measurement methodology to determine black economic interest and voting rights on a flow-through basis.
You receive a signed Independent Competent Person's Report, ready for your verification agency's review.
Issuers whose share registers include significant pension fund, unit trust and insurance ownership that has never been formally measured.
B-BBEE and DE&I officers who need a defensible, Codes-aligned basis for the ownership element of their scorecard.
Finance and governance leaders preparing for verification-agency review who want the analysis right the first time.
Every register is different — these views illustrate the kind of picture our methodology produces once mandated investments are properly analysed.
Our reports carry real regulatory weight precisely because we handle underlying data — yours and your investors' — with the same discretion we'd expect of our own.
Every report is prepared exclusively for the requesting entity and is not published or shared without explicit permission.
Every engagement is reviewed to confirm no member of the team holds a material interest that could impede independence.
Findings are formatted and referenced against the Codes so they can be presented directly to your verification agency.
Every figure can be traced back to its underlying data source and the specific measurement principle applied to it.
Book a confidential scoping conversation with our Mandated Investment team — no pricing, no obligation, just a clear view of where you stand.