36ONE International IC Limited

36ONE International IC Limited

36ONE was founded in 2006 by Cy Jacobs and Steven Liptz, two senior portfolio managers who departed Coronation Fund Managers — then South Africa's largest independent asset manager — to build a boutique with concentrated, high-conviction positioning. The firm is headquartered in Mauritius as 36ONE International IC Limited, with investment operations run from Johannesburg and Cape Town. The founders' premised the firm on running a limited number of high-conviction long, short, and hedge fund strategies rather than a sprawling product shelf. The firm's strategies span South African equities, fixed income, and multi-asset class offerings, with the flagship 36ONE SNN Equity Hedge Fund historically managing the bulk of institutional assets. Its investment approach is benchmark-agnostic and concentrated — the equity team typically holds 15–25 positions at a time, blending deep fundamental research with a willingness to run elevated cash allocations during unfavorable markets. The firm also manages long-only equity mandates, a flexible bond fund, and a balanced fund. The Mauritius-domiciled international vehicle mirrors the domestic hedge fund strategy for offshore investors. 36ONE's research coverage concentrates on domestically oriented South African names in financial services, consumer, healthcare, real estate, industrials, and telecoms. Team size is not publicly disclosed, though the firm maintains research and portfolio management operations across two South African cities. Jacobs and Liptz remain the co-CIOs and face of the franchise. In recent years, the firm has navigated a sharp downturn in South African risk assets, defending its track record while significant industry-wide outflows hit the local hedge fund sector. The founders structured the firm as an independent partnership, not part of a larger financial group, which gives them full control over investment decisions and fee structures. 36ONE's structural differentiator is its refusal to scale into index-hugging products. The firm runs fewer than ten strategies, and the equity teams maintain a concentrated book even as assets have grown — a discipline that many South African peers abandoned in favor of gathering institutional balanced mandates. The partnership structure also means key-person risk is concentrated in the two founders, a governance profile that appeals to allocators seeking pure alpha alignment but requires careful succession planning.