Jannie Mouton: So far, so brilliant. Now it’s up to PSG’s “Youth League”

Alec Hogg says being at PSG Group's 20th anniversary last night was a great privilege. In those two decades, the now R60bn group started from scratch in November 1995 by then recently fired stockbroker Jannie Mouton, has delivered compounded growth of 54% a year to shareholders. An investment of R100 000 back then would be worth R550m today. No other company in the world, even Apple, TenCent and Naspers, matches that growth rate. So impressive, that two of the big names in global value investing, former Morningstar research head Pat Dorsey and author William Thorndike made the trek to Stellenbosch to see how the one-time shop assistant from Carnarvon did it. Mouton's pride shone through in the 45 minutes he gave me immediately ahead of the formalities to tell his and PSG's story. What followed was a night of celebration and some rare showing off by a group that has never strayed from its hard working, humble roots. And, one hopes, never will. Because the next act only gets harder. More than R10bn of PSG's current market valuation is due to the expectations - for the first time ever its shares trade at a premium to the underlying "sum of the parts" value. That puts huge responsibility onto the next generation, what old-times call PSG's "Youth League". Mouton's sons Piet and Jan and colleagues like recently recruited Francois Gouws have huge boots to fill. With two thirds of the company's underlying value ascribed to its 30.7% stake in Capitec and 58.5% of Curro, the next generation start from a solid base. But they will need to find their own unicorns while guarding against the arrogance and complacency that has destroyed many businesses. Mouton, who turns 70 next year, retired once, very briefly. PSG's chairman has no intention of repeating that mistake. Ensuring his Youth League need only pop downstairs to his office for one of the best sounding boards imaginable.