The Founder of the South African asset management company, Allan WB Gray, has established a new foundation to hold the family’s controlling interests in the Allan Gray and Orbis groups.

Allan WB Gray believes that philanthropy is a natural extension of what Orbis and Allan Gray already do each and every day.

“Just as these firms strive to promote their clients’ financial security and peace of mind, so too will the Allan & Gill Gray Foundation strive to make a positive contribution to the common good,” Gray said in the newsletter .

“It is this holistic view of business entrepreneurship and the symbiotic relationship amongst all stakeholders—clients, employees, owners, and society—that the Foundation seeks to preserve,” he added.

The newly established Allan & Gill Gray Foundation will serve two equally important purposes: “to promote our continuity, independence and commercial success by ensuring that we continue to serve our clients’ best long-term interests, and to devote the dividends from its controlling shareholdings exclusively to philanthropy”.

The purpose of the Foundation is to ensure that the “fruits from its controlling interests in Orbis and Allan Gray are ultimately devoted entirely and exclusively to philanthropy in keeping with the family’s long-held intentions”, said Gray.

Ian Liddle, Chairman of Allan Gray, assured that the move will have no impact on clients’ investments.

He added that it is important “because it preserves our ability to make all decisions in the best long-term interests of our clients free from the short-term pressures that third-party ownership can bring”.

“I believe that the success we have achieved for our clients over the last 40 years is thanks in no small part to the consistent long-term approach set out by Allan. It is reassuring to know that the new Foundation has been charged with upholding these principles,” he said.

The new Allan & Gill Gray Foundation should not be confused with the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, which was founded over 10 years ago.

Allan Gray is a privately owned investment manager in Africa with $35bn in client assets in a range of equity, fixed interest and multi-asset mandates across Africa.