Solving the fiscal puzzle
Nov 18, 2020
Mission impossible. That is certainly the way most commentators would describe the daunting task of solving South Africa’s fiscal puzzle. Encouragingly, the National Treasury has become more explicit in its acknowledgement that we are on an unsustainable fiscal path and that time is of the essence.
The United States of Uhmmerica – where the pen is mightier than the sword
Nov 13, 2020
In what is an all-but-confirmed outcome as President Trump’s camp calls ‘foul’, main-stream media houses have called the US Election in Joe Biden’s favour – the past week has certainly captivated the hearts and minds of people across the world.
Why invest in South Africa and why invest now?
Nov 12, 2020
We are of the view that South Africa is cyclically well-positioned for global recovery with a cheap currency, attractively priced bonds, undervalued equity market and the possibility for continued USD weakness.
October 2020 economic review
Nov 10, 2020
As we enter into the final quarter of what has been a tumultuous year thus far, we saw October’s narrative being dictated by the US elections as well as COVID-19 second wave fears.
Low interest rates and how to solve for them
Nov 2, 2020
In this article Adam Bulkin, our head of Manager Research, explores three possible scenarios fund managers may attempt, to solve for the low-return problem we face.
A less aggressive fiscal consolidation than envisaged in June 2020
Oct 29, 2020
Arthur Kamp comments on Treasury’s 2020 MTBPS and points out that only government expenditure cuts and no shift from consumption to capital investment is illusionary progress.
Millions, Billions, and Trillions – Medium-Term Budget’s figures
Oct 28, 2020
Today Finance Minister, Mr Tito Mboweni, delivered the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), outlining government’s revenue and expenditure expectations for the forthcoming periods.
Events that moved the market l Q3 2020
Oct 12, 2020
Global tech companies shone brightly in the third quarter of 2020, with Apple becoming the first US company to surge past a market capitalisation of $2 trillion. Most businesses dimmed investor expectations, though, with plummeting profit levels and reduced or no dividend declarations. Sasol, for example, announced an impairment bigger than its market cap. What else happened during the quarter?
September 2020 economic review
Oct 8, 2020
For the last five months global markets surged almost uninterruptedly. However during the latter part of September amid second wave fears, we saw global equities lose ground. The increased political uncertainty in the US, the end of the tech stock rally that drove the index in August, increased COVID-19 infection rate across Europe, and the general staggering of stimulus measures are all…
Not what you make but what you keep
Oct 1, 2020
As South Africa endured the end of our 6th month of lockdown (albeit with a move to Level 1) the grinding effect of closing the economy, limiting citizens’ freedoms, and restricting business activity was evident for all to see this week with the release of the 2nd quarter’s jobs figures – 2.2m jobs lost between April and June, when the lockdown was at its hardest!