Ask the fund manager and corporate antagonist Simon Mawhinney about Allan Gray's stretch of underperformance, and he replies with the same blunt clarity he directs at some of Australia's most powerful chairmen.

“It’s been a long time between drinks,” the chief investment officer of the $8.7 billion investment firm says. “We haven’t had a tremendous amount of success in the recent past, and it feels like we’re paddling very hard just to stay afloat.”