Get To Know Your Portfolio Manager | Muhammed Wagley

Portfolio management is one of the most desirable jobs in the financial industry. Portfolio managers collaborate with a team of analysts and researchers to make final investment decisions for funds or asset-management, the money game sits well with these guys! In this series, we take a journey to get to know our Sasfin Wealth Portfolio Managers and we kick off with one of the youngest members of the team.

In Conversation with Muhammed Wagley as he takes us through his journey of what it takes to be a Portfolio Manager. We also get to know what is on his Spotify playlist to his investment strategy, and according to Andrew Padoa, Muhammed is definitely one to have in your team during a quiz night, his general knowledge is just off the charts.

We begin our conversation about social media, his presence on the platforms and the complexities of these platforms. Both in agreement that the nature of social media brings a variety of potential opportunities and issues. The issue is not one of online vs reality, it is the way people utilize technology in place of face-to-face contact and socialization. With that said, Muhammed admits to not being heavily active on social media, but rather an avid streamer.

What Are you currently Streaming?

What am I currently streaming? He shares that; "my favourite show has got to be the Boys on Amazon Prime. I also love Ted Lasso on Apple TV and the Righteous Gemstones on HBO. If you have not seen any of the above, I would highly recommend checking them out."

Referencing one of Muhammed's favourite sports comedy-drama series, Andrew Padoa makes note about the young PM’s personality, "his happiness is infectious, and he has the ability to lift your mood just by having a chat with him. He is just always positive and smiling. If anyone has watched the series "Ted Lasso, I feel like he is Sasfin's Ted Lasso.”

On Why He Pursued a Career as a Portfolio Manager.

“If I were being honest with myself, I would say that my journey to becoming a portfolio manager has been very serendipitous.” Initially, when I had started as a graduate I was just looking to gain as much experience as possible. I was acutely aware of how little I knew at the time and wanted to up-skill as much as possible. To that extent, I was fortunate enough to be placed in the DS team for the graduate programme and being able to leverage off these esteemed investment professionals is what set me on the path that I am on today.

In 2022 Muhammed was awarded Employee of the year – Front office at the year-end staff awards. The award affirmed that I was on the right track and that I just needed to keep doing what I was doing. I started feeling a little less like an imposter; to receive that validation from those who see the work I put in everyday helped me feel a bit more worthy of my title.

Muhammed’s Investment Strategy

Describing his investment strategy, Muhammed said; generally speaking, when investing on behalf of clients, we look to buy the highest quality companies that we can find, companies that are at the top of their respective industries currently and look to remain that way over the long term. These types of companies enjoy massive pricing power which allows them to remain robust in the face of changing circumstances.

What further attributes to his investment strategy is how he keeps up with current market trends. That is guided by his consumption of market-related content, additionally, financial data software like FactSet enables him to research new companies and keep up to date with the ones that he already follows. “Information is so easily accessible nowadays that I cannot say I have struggled in this regard.”

Five years into the business I doubt Muhammed would consider his backup career plan as a soccer data analyst despite being a massive Arsenal fan. He loves what he does and the continuous support from his mentors and family.

“Your invaluable contribution does not go unnoticed, and we wish you many more years filled with a very successful career at Sasfin Wealth,” adds Andrew.

Side note: Despite his claim of not being much for the party scenes, Muhammed is a member of Sasfin Wealth’s social committee, and thus far the staff has raving reviews about some of the events curated by the team.

Some fun facts about Muhammed:

• I am incredibly good at board games; I have been called the Beth Harmon of Ludo on many occasions (mostly by myself but the point still stands). Also, my strategy at Monopoly is unbeatable- happy to take on any challengers in this regard.
• Party Tricks? - I must confess that I am not much fun at parties, I much prefer being at home playing on my Switch or reading. Super boring, I know.
• On his Spotify list you will find a lot of bedroom Pop; Mac DeMarco's album This Old Dog is on repeat and Still Beating is my favourite song on the album.

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