The biggest beneficiary of Altshuler Shaham’s weakness is, as mentioned, Moore. More specifically, Mor Gamel and Pension, the subsidiary of the investment house. The Camel Company, led by Uri Kisos, transferred clients with a capital of NIS 21.5 billion from competitors. This is an annual transfer record after the company also broke the monthly transfer record in December with positive transfers of NIS 2.9 billion, an amount that even Altshuler Shaham in his best years was unable to reach.
Moore’s accelerated growth stems from the excess returns that the company presented alongside an ongoing relationship with financial agents who prefer to transfer clients to it. For example, the training fund in the general track of Moore decreased by 6.1% during 2022 and is in first place compared to a negative average of 8.1% of the other major players.
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Info new order in the camel world in billions of shekels
Altshuler Shaham Gamel and Pension is still the largest provident company in Israel with assets of NIS 144 billion, but its share has been significantly reduced, as today it owns 22% of the industry. For comparison, in May 2021 when Altshuler Shaham purchased the Psagot investment house from the Apex Fund, and after leaving only the provident assets in its hands, they were higher than NIS 220 billion and its market share was 33%. The heavy redemptions took place against the background of the short returns generated by Altschuler that heated almost all the routes it manages. For example, its training fund in the general track plunged by 11.3% during 2022 compared to a negative return of 7.5% of the main competitors. This is also the second year in a row that Altshuler Shaham is at the bottom of the table, mainly due to investment in the Chinese market – which was eliminated in the second quarter – and investment in American technology stocks which lost tens of percent of their value throughout the year.
Altshuler Shaham’s massive bleeding over the past year and a half, since June 2021, was the great opportunity of its competitors. Thus, throughout 2022, except for Yelin Lapidot, which lost several hundred million shekels, a low amount in the terms of the provident industry, all entities recorded positive fundraising and significant growth in assets in the amount of NIS 2-2.5 billion during 2022. The large fundraisings of Mor Gamel and Pension, which began operating in the provident industry only In 2018, today it becomes the sixth largest player, with assets of NIS 51.3 billion, while passing Analyst (NIS 20.2 billion), Migdal Insurance (NIS 23.6 billion), Menorah Mitvathim (NIS 34.4 billion) and Vilin Lapidot (NIS 43.7 billion) NIS), veteran players significantly older than her in the industry.
In an interview with “Calcalist” Ivys said today: “I have been in the industry since 2007 and in light of what has been happening in recent years, I can say that Moore has made a disruption in the camel industry. It is not trivial to open thousands of checkouts a day and we try to do it quickly and efficiently. We improved our core systems through FMR. It gives operational peace of mind.” As expected, Ivy also attributes the company’s success to its excess return in the past year. “We are at the top of returns. Our goal is to be in the top third of returns over time. To that end, we don’t take corners in terms of positions.”
This decision by Moore to “not take positions” did benefit her in the last year, but it may make it difficult for her in the future. It is true that Altshuler Shaham took deep positions that did not benefit him this year, but in the years 2016-2020, those positions, such as investing mainly in the US and significantly reducing stock holdings in preparation for the outbreak of the Corona virus, yielded an excess return for him and made him the largest player in the industry.
Kioss rejects the comparison to Altshuler Shaham and refuses to refer to the competitors, but adds that “an opportunity has occurred in the market, but opportunities must also be taken advantage of. We do deals even at ten o’clock at night, our reputation is that we do not leave a deal on the table and are quick in our decisions. There is no deal in the market that we will not be offered.” First. We know how to work quickly and have built a personal relationship with transactional people, such as entrepreneurs, company owners, underwriters and lawyers. We will not take corners in the capital market, but we will increase our investments in the non-tradable sector, today already 24% of the Camel’s assets are invested in the non-tradable sector, And we will receive fruits from it later.”
Moore’s competitors praise her for the relationship she maintains with the agents and the broad hand she shows for recruiting clients who are with the competitors through them. For example, Moore sent the outstanding agents she works with to Las Vegas in the last quarter of this year, after sending them to Thailand in 2021. “We have no problem admitting that we work massively with agents” explains Kisos and adds “We work with the agents 12 hours a day and they appreciate it. They know that we are the most hungry for customers, and our reputation with investments and agents creates a competitive advantage.”
Bamore should hope that with the building of its reputation, the number of savers who will switch to it directly and not through agents will increase, so that its expenses for recruiting new customers will decrease and the company will increase profitability. Mor Gamel and Pension trades according to a value of NIS 770 million in a mansion, but its profitability is still low. In the third quarter of this year, its net profit was NIS 3.6 million compared to a loss of NIS 1.1 million in the corresponding quarter in 2021.
In addition, in the annuity industry there is a belief, especially among Moore’s direct competitors, that the move by Moore to pay agents and accelerate growth should pave the way for an “exit” of the Levy family (14.6%), the controlling owners of the Moore investment house and the sale of the subsidiary.
Kisos claims that “if there was something on the agenda as a public company, we would report on it. Every day I hear something different. The way I manage the company as a profit-focused growth shows that there is no desire to exit here. If I had a strategy of raising assets without profitability I would A place to claim it.”
Altshuler Shaham stated: “We continue to manage our investments with a long-term view. The last year can be divided into two: the first half in which we were behind, and the second in which we are at the top. These data illustrate that it is important to take a broad view even in the worst months and avoid making quick decisions “.