Bermuda-based Orbis Investment Management Ltd. is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the launch of its first mutual funds.

The company began operations in Bermuda and London in late 1989 with assets under management of $67 million. That figure has ballooned to more than $20 billion as of the end of last year.

Orbis employs around 65 people in Bermuda and its total staff over operations in seven countries is 274.

About to move into a new building at 25 Front Street, Orbis caters to mainly to high net worth individuals and institutional investors and has achieved a 12.7 percent annualised net return over time, compared to the FTSE World Index return of 5.9 percent over the same period.

Anyone who bought a $10 share in the Orbis Global Equity Fund at its launch on January 1, 1990, would have a share worth $110.63, as of the end of January this year.

In a letter to investors to mark the 20th anniversary, Orbis president and portfolio manager of the funds, William Gray says the expansion was achieved mostly by word of mouth.

"Since inception, we have always taken a global approach," Mr. Gray wrote. "In 1989 this was a particularly ambitoius goal, with only a handful of people and so many investment opportunities to evaluate."

He added: "Although we have never advertised or employed a sales force, the Orbis Funds experienced a nine-fold increase in the number of registered members between 2001 and 2006."

After that, Orbis took steps to limit the flow of new clients and underwent a huge build-out of its fund administration operations and technology to keep up with the expansion. Citigroup was appointed as the funds' administrator.

Since March 2006, the Orbis global workforce has increased from 90 to 274, with 60 of the new hires working in technology.

"We now have 65 investment professionals, 50 of whom are analysts - about twice as many as four years ago," Mr. Gray added. "Most importantly we have done so while preserving our culture of small interdependent analyst teams." Loooking ahead, Mr. Gray indicated a change in the structure of Orbis, which was founded by his father Allan Gray, who was the first South African to gain the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

"My family is in the process of implementing plans to provide for the continued independence of the firm by vesting voting control in an independent body, while simultaneously dedicating the economic benefits from their controlling interest to the separately governed Orbis Founders Philanthropies in an effort to help those less fortunate in our society realise their full potential," Mr. Gray wrote.

The Orbis president added that the goal was to "provide small investors with the best of what Orbis has to offer", but that this was a challenge and would take time.