The University of Pretoria’s investment portfolio grew by an average of R5.7 million a day over the past seven financial years, Daily Investor reported.
The portfolio was worth R25.66 billion at the end of the university’s 2025 financial year. According to the report, it had a compound annual growth rate of 12.67% from 2019 to the end of 2025.
The university uses the fund to pay short-term liabilities. It also gives the university ready cash if revenue falls sharply or if payments arrive late from students or the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
The university’s council requires its reserves to act as a safety net. Under that mandate, the fund must keep core teaching and research going for 18 to 19 months if the university earns no revenue.
Parts of the portfolio are set aside for specific staff benefits. These include life cover for employees and post-retirement medical aid for eligible staff and future retirees.
The fund must also grow its capital over the long term, the report said. This is so it can cover future liabilities after inflation has reduced the buying power of the rand.
Interest and dividends from the portfolio appear in the university’s income statement, and the council can use them as it chooses. The money often goes to the operating budget, upgrades to facilities and student bursaries.
An investment committee oversees the portfolio. It does not pick individual shares. It sets risk levels and exposure limits, and it checks how the money is spread across asset classes.
The committee also makes sure the portfolio does not rely too heavily on any one fund manager. The university uses between 23 and 25 portfolio managers, drawn from 11 to 13 local asset managers and 12 foreign managers.
Ninety One, Coronation and Futuregrowth, which is part of Old Mutual, manage the fixed-income portfolio. The university also invests in shares through asset managers. Boards of trustees manage its retirement funds separately, and Momentum administers the umbrella provident fund.
The money is split into smaller portfolios based on when it will be needed. A money market portfolio covers obligations of two years or less, and it puts easy access to cash and protection of capital first.
A medium-term portfolio covers liabilities due in three to five years. It must balance access to cash with returns above inflation. A long-term portfolio covers obligations beyond five years and is largely invested in local and foreign shares.
The university opened in 1908 with 32 students and four professors in a single house. It now has 55,650 students across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.
Assets are rebalanced across the portfolios every 15 months to support the university’s budget needs and infrastructure projects, the report said.
Source: this article is based on reporting by Daily Investor. Image: Daily Investor. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Business desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Anelisa Nkuna covers business and money news for Tzaneen Voice. Anelisa reports on the rand, fuel prices, interest rates, jobs, Eskom, Transnet, farming and company results. The aim is simple: explain what the numbers mean for household budgets, small businesses and workers in South Africa.