Cape Town - The offices of Futuregrowth Asset Management, Africa’s biggest fixed-income money manager, were severely damaged when a fire broke out in a Cape Town office block.
Staff and clients evacuated the Great Westerford building on Thursday after the fire started at about 8am, Michelle Usher, a spokeswoman for Futuregrowth, said by phone. Futuregrowth has offices on the third floor, which was “gutted”, according to firefighting authorities.
The company’s systems and data are backed up, Usher said.
Futuregrowth, which oversees assets worth R140 billion, is a unit of the Old Mutual Investment Group, South Africa’s biggest private investor.
“There was some smoke and flames coming from the roof of the building,” Usher said at about 930am in Cape Town. “We can’t see how it has progressed.”
The fire was under control by 10am and no loss of life or injuries were reported, although firefighters remained on the scene to assess damage, Theo Layne, fire and rescue services spokesman, said by phone.
The blaze is unrelated to runaway fires that swept the Cape Peninsula since March 1, he said.
Bloomberg