Financial services companies traditionally dominate the rankings of asset heavyweights through their control of individual and corporate savings and loans.

Banks and insurers continue to head the asset rankings, but 2007 certainly proved more difficult as the consumer spending boom in SA slowed down. In addition, the National Credit Act, launched in June, made it more difficult for financial institutions to award loans to consumers.

The result was that asset growth by financial services companies slowed somewhat over the past 12 months, though some institutions managed to outpace the rest. A corporate sector borrowing more and offshore growth were two factors that differentiated the more successful firms from the rest.

This survey provides only the asset figures contained in the 2006 and 2007 annual reports available earlier this year. A more recent ranking of JSE-listed firms by assets is as follows (year-end in brackets):

1. Old Mutual - £143bn (R1,94 trillion) (Dec 2007)

2. Standard Bank - R1,18 trillion (Dec 2007)

3. FirstRand - R781bn (Dec 2007)

4. Absa - R641bn (Dec 2007)

5. Nedbank - R489bn (Dec 2007)

6. BHP Billiton - US$58bn (R400bn) (Dec 2007)

7. Investec - £26bn (R356bn) (Mar 2008)

8. Sanlam - R340bn (Dec 2007)

9. Anglo American - $45bn (R309bn) (Dec 2007)

10. Liberty - R221bn (Dec 2007)

11. SABMiller - $29bn (R199bn) (Mar 2008)

12. Sasol - R123bn (Dec 2007)

13. MTN - R116bn (Dec 2007)

14. Richemont - €7,5bn (R76bn) (Sep 2007)

15. Telkom - R64bn (Sep 2007)

Old Mutual's continued strong showing reflects its successful offshore expansion strategy. In particular, Swedish subsidiary Skandia and Old Mutual's UK operation are adding substantial weight to the balance sheet.

The group is well on its way to meeting CEO Jim Sutcliffe's target of controlling £300bn of funds under management by the end of 2008. In December 2007 funds under management totalled £279bn, a year-on-year rise of 18%.

Standard Bank's assets jumped above the R1 trillion level for the first time in financial 2007, totalling R1,18 trillion at year-end.

In noticeable contrast to Old Mutual, its former Bellville rival Sanlam is languishing in eighth position with assets having shown a mere 1,5% rise to R340bn in the year to December 2007. Sanlam, while having consolidated its domestic operations, is lacking a wider global footprint.

Outside of financial services it is, as expected, the mining houses that make the running. BHP Billiton, the world's largest miner, is also the JSE's asset leader in the sector with $58bn in assets under control in December. Anglo American, with fewer iron ore deposits under its belt, is relatively far behind with $45bn in total assets.

Three other SA nonfinancial firms complete the list of firms with more than R100bn in assets under control. SABMiller's continued expansion boosted its assets to close to R200bn.

The oil price boom lifted Sasol's asset base significantly to R123bn, while MTN's continued expansion in Africa and the Middle East buoyed its assets to R116bn.