Ghost Stories: Recent Episodes
The Finance Ghost
Ghost Stories is a long-form podcast that gives me the opportunity to have deeper conversations with founders, executives and market participants who have a great story to tell.
With a strong belief that both ETFs and single stocks are relevant to any long-term portfolio strategy, The Finance Ghost hosted Siyabulela Nomoyi of Satrix to talk about why ETFs are so helpful - especially in the context of Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSA).
Siya didn't waste the opportunity to ask questions about single stock research as part of the discussion, showing just how different the process is for choosing ETFs vs. single stocks.
For those willing to put in the effort to expand their investment knowledge and build wealth, this is a fantastic podcast. This podcast was first published here.
Satrix Investments Pty Limited and Satrix Managers RF Pty Limited are authorised financial services providers. Nothing you have heard in this podcast should be construed as advice. Please do your own research and visit the Satrix website for more information on all their ETF products.
In this excellent discussion with Nico Katzke, Head of Portfolio Solutions at Satrix Investments, we talked about a range of topics that are of great relevance to South African investors. This included:
- The performance of the local market in the aftermath of the election and why indices behaved differently
- How the carry trade works and why this tends to protect the rand
- The relative appeal of South African equities in this environment
- Property and government bonds as a way to play the local theme
- How ETFs can be used to express these views and build a portfolio
For those willing to put in the effort to expand their investment knowledge and build wealth, this is a fantastic podcast. This podcast was first published here.
Satrix Investments Pty Limited and Satrix Managers RF Pty Limited are authorised financial services providers. Nothing you have heard in this podcast should be construed as advice. Please do your own research and visit the Satrix website for more information on all their ETF products.
Paul Miller is an ex-investment banker with extensive experience not just in the markets, but in junior mining as well. He understands how important it is for a market to have an active base of retail investors, connecting capital to opportunities and encouraging more listings. Access to capital is the lifeblood for the junior mining sector, but it goes far beyond that.
Through Utshalo, he is working to encourage listed companies to include retail investors in their capital raises, rather than only picking up the phone to a few investors in an accelerated bookbuild.
With Orion Minerals as the perfect example of what can be done in South Africa, Paul joined The Finance Ghost on this podcast to talk about why this is so important and how Utshalo can help. You can find out more about Utshalo at this link.
Utshalo is a division of Ince (Pty) Limited, a juristic representative of Insurance Supermarket Insurance Brokers (Pty) Limited, registration number 2012/044142/07, an Authorised Financial Services Provider, FSP number 43986
For investors who are looking for Japanese (Nikkei 225) or European (Euro Stoxx 50) exposure, Investec has launched two new structured products that provide potentially better returns than would otherwise be the case, while giving downside protection up to a certain level. It all comes down to how the index behaves over the time period of the investment,
To explain the opportunities and risks of each product, Andri Joubert of Investec Structured Products joined me on this podcast.
Applications close on 8 August, so you must move quickly if you are interested in investing. As always, it is recommended that you discuss any such investment with your financial advisor.
You can find all the information you need on the Investec website at this link.
Does Fedgroup think differently about preserving and growing wealth for their clients? Perhaps their position as one of the largest beekeepers in the country answers that question. In this show, Michael Field (General Manager: Investments) joined me to unpack the way Fedgroup thinks about investing.
The JSE has a small (and shrinking) pool of assets being chased by deep pools of capital. Alternative assets can offer inflation protection, diversification and stability in a portfolio that still includes exposure to traditional asset classes like equities and bonds.
After all, when the market can throw a lot of red numbers at you on your brokerage account in a tough year, having assets that are focused on stability and inflation protection can make all the difference.
For those who prefer to read, the full transcript of the show is available further down.
And remember, this podcast is for informational purposes only. Nothing in here should be taken as advice. Fedgroup Financial Holdings (Pty) Ltd is a licensed controlling company and companies within the group are authorised FSPs. Find out more about Fedgroup here.
With volatility as the theme in markets in a year of elections, it's important to keep your head as an equity investor. Take a long-term view and let the market do its job.
Easier said than done, of course.
To assist with practical tips and important insights into key principles in investing (ranging from more basic concepts through to advanced topics like cyclically-adjusted P/E ratios), Kingsley Williams (Chief Investment Officer at Satrix) joined The Finance Ghost on this podcast.
The only free lunch in investing is diversification. This podcast will help you understand why, brought to you by Satrix.
There’s so much to listen to in this podcast, underpinned by Satrix’s commitment to South African investor education. To find out more about SatrixNOW, visit this link>>>
*Satrix is a division of Sanlam Investment Management
Tivon Loubser is all about chasing the sun - and generating investment returns from solar projects. Thanks to South Africa's ongoing need for renewable energy projects of every size, there are tax benefits available to investors for doing this. We unpack the opportunity in this podcast.
The podcast is brought to you by Twelve B Fund Managers, a private equity fund entitling tax payers to invest in a portfolio of renewable energy generating assets and benefit from the recently gazetted 125% 12BA wear and tear allowance. After successfully closing Fund I, and deploying all the raised capital in the previous financial year, Twelve B Fund II is open for investment. The fund will close at the earlier of R100m or 30 June 2024.
Please do your own research, discuss this with your independent financial advisor, and if you would like to set up a meeting with the Twelve B team, or would like more information, visit the Twelve B or Grovest websites.
Twelve B Fund Managers (Pty) Ltd is an approved juristic representative of Volantis Capital Proprietary Limited, an Authorised Financial Services Provider FSP No 49836.
The world is increasingly focusing on private market opportunities and the benefits that they bring to a portfolio strategy. Whether equity or credit in nature, there are reasons to seriously consider the inclusion of private assets in a wealth strategy.
In this podcast, Reginald Labuschagne (Head of Product and Strategy at Sanlam Private Wealth) and Harris Gorre (Partner at Grovepoint Investment Management) bring considerable experience to a discussion on private investment strategies and where they can be used in client portfolios.
You can connect with Reginald on LinkedIn here. More information on Sanlam Private Wealth can be found here.
More information on Grovepoint Investment Management (including the GIM Liquid Private Credit shares listed on the JSE: GIMPLC) can be found on the group website here.
Sanlam Private Wealth (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2000/023234/07, is a licensed Financial Services Provider (FSP 37473), a registered Credit Provider (NCRCP1867) and a member of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange ('SPW').
Nothing in this podcast should be taken as advice. You must always do your own research on opportunities and speak to your financial advisor.
When planning your wealth creation journey, it helps to understand all the tools available in the toolbox. Bond ETFs remain poorly understood by many investors, leading to portfolio strategies that don’t include fixed income investments.
In this podcast with Siyabulela Nomoyi of Satrix, we put the spotlight on bond ETFs. We covered topics like the relationship between interest rates and capital values, the way in which these ETFs add value to a portfolio and the macroeconomic conditions* that can lead to good outcomes here.
There’s so much to listen to in this podcast, underpinned by Satrix’s commitment to South African investor education. To find out more about SatrixNOW, visit this link>>>
*Satrix is a division of Sanlam Investment Management
(this article was first published here)
The Global Accelerator offers 100% capital protection in dollars at maturity after five years, while giving exposure to global equity indices.
To explain how it all works, Japie Lubbe of Investec Structured Products joined me on this podcast and covered the following topics:
- The design of the underlying equity basket
- The use of “insurance” in an equity portfolio and how this can be understood in the context of more familiar concepts like car and home insurance
- The upside of the Global Accelerator, both on an accelerated basis and a capped basis
- The payoff of this product vs. buying an ETF that tracks a similar equity index, with specific reference to how dividends work
- Building blocks of the Global Accelerator in terms of company structure and the various instruments used
- Fees involved and how they compare to unit trusts
- The liquidity available over the five-year period
- How a debt instrument is used to provide capital protection and understanding the credit risk associated with this debt instrument.
Applications close 21 May 2024.
As always you must do your own research and speak to your financial advisor before investing in a product like this. You can find all the information you need on the Investec website at this link.
There’s a lot more to blockchain technology than just the latest Bitcoin or Ether price. After the boom of NFTs and all kinds of other things during the pandemic, things clearly cooled off in this space - and for the better. In the meantime, corporates and entrepreneurs are busy in the background on tokenisation of assets to create digital assets.
In a digital economy, digital assets are important.
The Fintech space is more widely understood. But again, it goes beyond just a payments solution on your wrist or your phone. As the world becomes increasingly cashless, there’s a lot of innovation in the financial space.
To unpack these areas in more detail and to understand how use cases are developing, I was joined by Wiehann Olivier (Partner and Head of Fintech & Digital Assets at Mazars) and Mia Pieterse (Partner and Fintech Specialist at Mazars).
You can connect with Wiehann on LinkedIn at this link and Mia on LinkedIn at this link.
About Mazars
Mazars is an internationally integrated partnership, specialising in audit, accountancy, advisory and tax services. Operating in over 100 countries and territories around the world, they draw on the expertise of more than 50,000 professionals - 33,000 in Mazars' integrated partnership and 17,000 via the Mazars North America Alliance - to assist clients of all sizes at every stage in their development.
To find out more about Mazars in South Africa, visit:
Website: www.mazars.co.za
Facebook: MazarsSouthAfrica
X: @Mazars_SA
LinkedIn: Mazars in South Africa
Nico Katzke of Satrix returns to Ghost Stories to talk about the latest buzzword of the moment: Artificial Intelligence (AI)*. This topic has been dominating market headlines for a while now and it poses both opportunities and risks.
In this podcast, we discuss:
- The way in which some people run towards hype and others run in the opposite direction – talking to the different investor personalities in the market.
- Whether the development of cloud computing and SaaS can teach us anything about the risk of being too sceptical about AI.
- The energy demands of AI and what this could mean for renewable energy.
- What AI technology is and what it is not – and why the term may well be an example of great marketing more than anything else.
- Our preferred ways to get exposure to this theme in our portfolios.
There’s so much to listen to in this podcast, underpinned by Satrix’s commitment to South African investor education. To find out more about SatrixNOW, visit this link>>>
*Satrix is a division of Sanlam Investment Management
(this article was first published here)
Brian McMillan of the Structured Products team at Investec is back on Ghost Stories, this time to talk about the Investec Nikkei 225 Autocall.
This product is designed to give investors exposure to the Nikkei 225 index over a period of up to five years with an enhanced return of up to 17% per annum in ZAR or 11.5% per annum in USD. Importantly, there is 100% capital protection provided the index does not drop by more than 30%.
To help you understand this opportunity, the topics covered include:
- The history of the Nikkei 225 over the past three decades and how it became ignored by investors, with the narrative having improved significantly in recent times.
- Reasons why the Nikkei 225 could be a compelling investment going forward.
- The structure of an “autocall” product and exactly how it works over the time period of the instrument.
- The way the upside works on this instrument, with a fixed return provided the index closes above the starting level.
- The underlying credit risk in the instrument.
- The liquidity in the note and the extent to which it is tradeable during the term.
- The minimum investment amount required and how the fees work.
- Confirmation of the types of investors allowed to participate.
The investment tranche is available until the 5th of April 2024.
As always you must do your own research and speak to your financial advisor before investing in a product like this. You can find all the information you need on the Investec website at this link.
In this episode of Ghost Stories, Siyabulela Nomoyi returned to the platform once more to talk about two exciting product launches at Satrix.
Of course, The Finance Ghost couldn’t resist kicking off the show with a question around whether Siya stuck to his festive season savings goals that were discussed at the end of 2023 in a previous episode!
Moving on to all things ETF related, topics of discussion included:
- How Satrix approaches the product design process.
- An overview of the Satrix MSCI ACWI Feeder ETF and specifically how it differs from the MSCI World Index in giving efficient exposure to developed and emerging markets.
- An overview of the Satrix JSE Global Equity ETF and how this gives investors an opportunity to tilt their portfolios towards locally-listed companies with more international exposure.
- Related to the Satrix JSE Global Equity ETF, an important discussion on JSE index harmonisation.
- Variability in ETF costs and what the building blocks of those costs are.
There’s so much in here, underpinned by Satrix’s commitment to South African investor education. To find out more about SatrixNOW, visit this link>>>
Disclosure
Satrix Investments (Pty) Ltd is an approved FSP in term of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS). The information does not constitute advice as contemplated in FAIS. Use or rely on this information at your own risk. Consult your Financial Adviser before making an investment decision.
While every effort has been made to ensure the reasonableness and accuracy of the information contained in this podcast (“the information”), the FSP’s, its shareholders, subsidiaries, clients, agents, officers and employees do not make any representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or suitability of the information and shall not be held responsible and disclaims all liability for any loss, liability and damage whatsoever suffered as a result of or which may be attributable, directly or indirectly, to any use of or reliance upon the information.
Deon Lewis (co-founder of Futureneers) and James Rothmann (Projects Director and Tax Innovation Officer at Futureneers) joined The Finance Ghost to talk about the 12BA Renewable Energy Partnership and the opportunity it offers investors for a tax-enhanced investment in solar.
On this podcast, we talked about topics including:
- The background of Futureneers and the investment track record.
- The return profile of the solar projects both with and without the tax benefits.
- The way the tax works further down the line when there’s a potential sale of the project.
- Whether this opportunity is relatively more attractive for potential investors who are in higher tax brackets.
- The protections in place for investors.
For more information on Futureneers and to apply for this opportunity, you can follow this link.
As always, ensure that you do your own research and consult with your financial advisor. The Finance Ghost has no affiliation with Futureneers or involvement in the underlying investments and does not accept any responsibility for the financial returns. Futureneers is a registered Financial Services Provider (FSP 46996) and registered Section 12J Venture Capital Company.
This is a big year for South Africa. Load shedding returned literally straight after the State of the Nation Address, creating a difficult foundation for the Budget Speech. The headlines are full of political activity in the build-up to elections. There's a lot going on.
Tertius Troost is in the Tax Consulting team at Mazars, so this is a busy month to say the least. He took time away from a hectic February tax diary to share insights as a preview to the Budget Speech.
Why is this important? Well, as a South African, the Budget Speech directly impacts you in many different ways, ranging from direct changes to your taxes to the way in which your taxes are spent in the country. It's critical to understand the key pressure points for our fiscus.
You can connect with Tertius on LinkedIn here.
Welcome to 2024!
An investing strategy can only be successful if there is money available to invest. In the first part of this podcast, The Finance Ghost and Duma Mxenge discussed concepts like:
- The value of planning ahead and how this can save money (e.g. when booking holidays – especially to cheaper jurisdictions than South Africa!)
- The usefulness of sitting with a financial advisor earlier in the year.
- Dangers of living bonus-to-bonus each year.
- The reality of middle-class inflation in South Africa and effective double tax.
After initially bouncing around these ideas, the conversation turned to financial concepts including:
- Different financial needs at different stages of your life – with Duma giving a clear and succinct explanation that we can all relate to, followed up by a discussion on the need to achieve balance in life.
- The importance of stress-testing interest rates when deciding to take on debt.
- The financial and practical considerations of renting vs. buying a home.
- Of critical importance: financial discipline doesn’t mean not having nice things!
- Why “tax free savings account” is a misleading name and some of the strategies that can be used with these investing accounts.
- Offshore vs. local strategies and what we can learn from 2023, along with various nuances like the true impact of a strong vs. weak dollar on global tech stocks.
- The bad habit of South Africans wanting to send money offshore when the rand is at its weakest.
The podcast ended off with a discussion on the ETFs that should exist – with The Finance Ghost beating the drum once more for the JSE to have a proper retailers index!
There’s so much in here, underpinned by Satrix’s commitment to South African investor education. To find out more about SatrixNOW, visit this link>>>
Disclosure
Satrix Investments (Pty) Ltd is an approved FSP in term of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS). The information does not constitute advice as contemplated in FAIS. Use or rely on this information at your own risk. Consult your Financial Adviser before making an investment decision.
While every effort has been made to ensure the reasonableness and accuracy of the information contained in this podcast (“the information”), the FSP’s, its shareholders, subsidiaries, clients, agents, officers and employees do not make any representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or suitability of the information and shall not be held responsible and disclaims all liability for any loss, liability and damage whatsoever suffered as a result of or which may be attributable, directly or indirectly, to any use of or reliance upon the information.
We are now in December, which is generally a month of spending rather than investing. Of course, it shouldn’t be that way if you have the correct financial plan in place, a topic that Siyabulela Nomoyi (Quantitative Portfolio Manager at Satrix) joined me to discuss.
We couldn’t resist the opportunity to dig into ETFs as well!
In the final Ghost Stories podcast with Satrix for 2023, topics covered included:
- The right way to think about saving and investing, particularly in the context of December and January.
- The benefit of tax-free savings accounts and how interesting they can be with ETFs.
- The range of equity ETFs, from vanilla products through to factor ETFs.
- Local vs. offshore and how to play this heading into 2024 as a potentially volatile year in South Africa.
- The performance of bond ETFs in 2023.
- Real estate and infrastructure ETFs.
- The difference between ETF and unit trust structures.
And just for fun, I also asked Siya what he would choose as his ETF exposure going into 2024.
There’s so much in here, underpinned by Satrix’s commitment to South African investor education. To find out more about SatrixNOW, visit this link>>>
Disclosure
Satrix Investments (Pty) Ltd is an approved FSP in term of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS). The information does not constitute advice as contemplated in FAIS. Use or rely on this information at your own risk. Consult your Financial Adviser before making an investment decision.
While every effort has been made to ensure the reasonableness and accuracy of the information contained in this podcast (“the information”), the FSP’s, its shareholders, subsidiaries, clients, agents, officers and employees do not make any representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or suitability of the information and shall not be held responsible and disclaims all liability for any loss, liability and damage whatsoever suffered as a result of or which may be attributable, directly or indirectly, to any use of or reliance upon the information.
Nico Katzke is no stranger to Ghost Mail readers. He has written several articles in his role at Satrix and has appeared on a number of podcasts with me.
In this show, there was more of a cross-over with personal finance than usual. The reality is that if you can’t save every month, then you also can’t invest.
Topics we discussed included:
- Why does it make sense to treat your own financials like corporates do? And why is the concept of an inflection point in your income so important? How does this unlock guilt-free spending, making your discretionary spend so much more enjoyable?
- How do entrepreneurs differ from salaried employees in how they take risks with their money?
- Diversification: a concept that goes way beyond just investing.
- Nico’s core approach of doing things today that have massive impact in 20 years from now: (1) adjust your lifestyle to your savings amount (and not the other way around; and (2) distinguish between saving and investing.
- Why the greatest risk to investing is not taking enough risk.
- As difficult as it is to resist temptation, why avoiding over-consumption can make a huge difference to your future, especially when the marginal benefit of buying the new model car / smartphone / whatever is minimal.
- The huge danger of using debt affordability tests as a target for how much debt you can take on.
- The benefit of taking a more active role in how your money is invested, particularly focusing on costs.
- The importance of being willing to ask your financial advisor questions about your investments
- An overview of the two-pot system that is due for implementation next year.
There’s so much in here, underpinned by Satrix’s commitment to South African investor education. To find out more about SatrixNOW, visit this link>>>
Disclosure
Satrix Investments (Pty) Ltd is an approved FSP in term of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS). The information does not constitute advice as contemplated in FAIS. Use or rely on this information at your own risk. Consult your Financial Adviser before making an investment decision.
While every effort has been made to ensure the reasonableness and accuracy of the information contained in this podcast (“the information”), the FSP’s, its shareholders, subsidiaries, clients, agents, officers and employees do not make any representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or suitability of the information and shall not be held responsible and disclaims all liability for any loss, liability and damage whatsoever suffered as a result of or which may be attributable, directly or indirectly, to any use of or reliance upon the information.
Mazars has announced a landmark network with Forvis, creating a top 10 firm in the USA. The CEO of Mazars in South Africa, Anoop Ninan, joined me to unpack why this is important. Of course, I didn’t waste the opportunity to tap into his extensive business knowledge at the same time!
Topics discussed included:
- An overview of the unique network with Forvis and why this is important in a professional services environment that is highly fragmented in the assurance and related services space.
- How audit firms try to differentiate themselves in the market, specifically across technology, people and partner-led service.
- The ownership structure of these audit firms and how that works in this network situation.
- The impact of this network on existing and prospective South African clients.
- The Mazars growth strategy in South Africa and the sectors that are seeing significant activity, with reference to the advisory teams in Mazars and the work that they do.
- The public company vs. private company landscape in South Africa, particularly in the context of an ever-shrinking JSE.
- An overview of the broader Mazars service offering, including data insights and related services.
- The impact of greylisting on how we are perceived internationally and the level of foreign direct investment.
- South Africa’s ongoing positioning as the gateway to Africa and where the “good news” stories are in our economy.
For more information on the Forvis Mazars network, you can read this article.
Nico Katzke of Satrix is a familiar voice to Ghost Mail readers and podcast enthusiasts. He’s back on Ghost Stories, with a fantastic twist halfway through the podcast where we switched roles and he started asking me questions.
Nico in the hot seat:
- Diversification vs. “diworsification” – a topic always worth revisiting, with commentary on the impact on the market as a whole and an understanding of correlation.
- The danger of only seeing the highlights reel of an investment journey, masking the impact of taking risky bets that don’t work out.
- The importance of humility in the market.
- A famous quote by Warren Buffett that is misused all the time due to it being taken out of context.
Your favourite ghost in the hot seat:
- My approach to managing cognitive bias.
- The importance of objectively assessing growth opportunities against the valuation, even for the world’s most exciting companies and brands.
- Long-term vs. short-term analysis and how this impacts the weighting of price vs. industry fundamentals and management.
- Personal stories of “the stock that got away” (including the pain of CGT vs. income tax for an individual investor) and the stock that feels like “drunk dialling” an ex.
- My pick in a Shoprite vs. Pick n Pay debate and how to use common sense when analysing stocks.
- Where I sit on the value – growth spectrum and the importance of both fundamental and technical analysis.
- The danger of action bias and the usefulness of higher interest rates that pay you to wait for the right opportunities, making “payday investing” very dangerous in single stocks.
- The three stocks that I would choose to hold forever.
- The way to start a journey in analysing companies and making single stock exposure decisions.
There’s so much in here, underpinned by Satrix’s commitment to South African investor education. To find out more about SatrixNOW, visit this link>>>
Disclosure
Satrix Investments (Pty) Ltd is an approved FSP in term of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS). The information does not constitute advice as contemplated in FAIS. Use or rely on this information at your own risk. Consult your Financial Adviser before making an investment decision.
While every effort has been made to ensure the reasonableness and accuracy of the information contained in this podcast (“the information”), the FSP’s, its shareholders, subsidiaries, clients, agents, officers and employees do not make any representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or suitability of the information and shall not be held responsible and disclaims all liability for any loss, liability and damage whatsoever suffered as a result of or which may be attributable, directly or indirectly, to any use of or reliance upon the information.
After I wrote critically about the pricing of African Bank’s deal to acquire two businesses out of Sasfin, the company contacted me to discuss the thinking behind the deal in more detail. I was highly impressed with the willingness to engage, especially as African Bank graciously recognised that Ghost Mail’s free-to-read format is only made possible by partners.
The bank opted to sponsor a podcast appearance by African Bank CEO Kennedy Bungane, who has been in the banking industry for over two decades. As with everything I do, a paid appearance doesn’t impact the independence of my questions and the overall approach to the show.
With the important disclosures now out of the way, I can give you a taste of what we discussed:
- The important history of African Bank, particularly in the South African context.
- An overview of what the bank does differently today vs. the previous chapter in African Bank’s life that ended in curatorship.
- Examples of how the bank is adding customers through partnerships, with an expanded product suite to service these customers.
- African Bank’s framework for successful acquisitions, ranging from strategic fit through to earnings accretion, execution difficulty, cultural fit and longevity.
- An overview of the Grindrod Bank and Ubank acquisitions.
- The client ecosystem strengthened through the Sasfin acquisitions and the synergies with the rest of the group.
- The extent of talent and systems acquired as part of these deals.
- The strategy of lowering the cost of equity to unlock more lucrative returns in these businesses.
- The branding strategy with these acquisitions.
Of course, the proof of these acquisitions will be in the pudding. I’m grateful to be able to bring you this podcast that gives insights into how corporate M&A works and the type of thinking that goes into these transactions.
Structured products have come a long way. From a specialised, exotic investment tool, they are now mainstream, and financial advisers are now more comfortable about investing in them on behalf of clients.
Having covered the Investec USD S&P 500 Autocall on a previous podcast (Episode 19 of Ghost Stories), we now move on to the Optimal Investment Growth Basket Limited promoted by Investec. This product offers a maximum annualised return in USD of 9.8% per annum over five years, with 100% capital protection at maturity in US dollars. The minimum investment amount is $12,000 or £10,500. This is a limited offer that closes on 24 November 2023. T’s and C’s apply and full details can be found on the Investec website at this link and the brochure can be found here.
To unpack this opportunity in detail, Japie Lubbe joined The Finance Ghost on this episode of Ghost Stories.
Topics covered included:
- The importance of global diversification and exposure for South African investors;
- The strategy of tracking a basket of global indices as opposed to a single index;
- The methodology used in this instrument to achieve the potential return profile for investors;
- The look-through credit exposure in the structure;
- Liquidity in the structure; and
- How to invest in the product.
The universe of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) is broad, offering investors many different ways to invest in the market.
Not only are there various different sector and weighting methodologies available, but Satrix ETFs offer South African investors a way to make perhaps the biggest decision of all: offshore vs. local exposure.
As we reflect on ETF performance in 2023, Siyabulela Nomoyi of Satrix joined The Finance Ghost to look at topics like:
- Offshore vs. local performance and the impact of the start date for that analysis, including the currency effect;
- The importance of understanding the underlying stocks in an ETF and their relative valuations; and
- Relative performance of local ETFs.
The Ghost couldn’t help but slip in his ongoing request for a retail sector ETF, an index that the JSE really needs to add to the local market.
To understand more about ETFs and how they can be used in your portfolio, enjoy this podcast brought to you by Satrix.
To find out more about SatrixNOW, visit this link>>>
Disclosure
Satrix Investments (Pty) Ltd is an approved FSP in term of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS). The information does not constitute advice as contemplated in FAIS. Use or rely on this information at your own risk. Consult your Financial Adviser before making an investment decision.
While every effort has been made to ensure the reasonableness and accuracy of the information contained in this podcast (“the information”), the FSP’s, its shareholders, subsidiaries, clients, agents, officers and employees do not make any representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or suitability of the information and shall not be held responsible and disclaims all liability for any loss, liability and damage whatsoever suffered as a result of or which may be attributable, directly or indirectly, to any use of or reliance upon the information.
Are dividends always worth celebrating? Does a company paying a dividend really reward shareholders, or is this just shuffling money around?
These are the kinds of questions that Nico Katzke of Satrix discussed with The Finance Ghost on this episode of Ghost Stories. Nico is a wealth of information about the markets and these podcasts are always highly interactive.
Topics covered included:
- Headlines were all over the place recently about Michael Burry shorting the US market – did the media get it wrong? What does it actually mean to short the market?
- After many investors learnt the hard way that “stonks” don’t always go up, how should investors manage their mindset around volatility? Does the difference between saving and investing come in here?
- What is the danger of fully allocating your portfolio to fixed income vehicles in an environment of high yields?
- How important is it to include dividends when looking at equity performance?
- What is the peril of trailing dividend yields vs. forward dividend yields?
- What is capital allocation policy and what are the pros and cons of a management team paying dividends?
- How do share buybacks work as an alternative to dividends?
- Can you directly compare dividends on shares to yields on fixed income investments?
- What are the dangers of the “Dividend Aristocrat” label in the US market?
- What role might Artificial Intelligence play in asset management and investment strategies?
To end off the show, Nico shared how he manages his own investing every month.
To find out more about SatrixNOW, visit this link>>>
Disclosure
Satrix Investments (Pty) Ltd is an approved FSP in term of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS). The information does not constitute advice as contemplated in FAIS. Use or rely on this information at your own risk. Consult your Financial Adviser before making an investment decision.
While every effort has been made to ensure the reasonableness and accuracy of the information contained in this podcast (“the information”), the FSP’s, its shareholders, subsidiaries, clients, agents, officers and employees do not make any representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or suitability of the information and shall not be held responsible and disclaims all liability for any loss, liability and damage whatsoever suffered as a result of or which may be attributable, directly or indirectly, to any use of or reliance upon the information.
Structured products have come a long way. From a specialised, exotic investment tool, they are now mainstream, and financial advisers are now more comfortable about investing in them on behalf of clients.
A perfect example is the Investec USD S&P 500 Autocall, where investors can earn a potential return of up to 8.4% p.a. if the index ends flat or positive on one of the call dates in year 3, 4 or 5. Provided the index does not end below 70% of the initial index level, there is full capital protection in USD. The minimum investment amount is R100,000 and there is a maximum 5-year term. This is a limited offer that closes on 16 October 2023. T’s and C’s apply and full details can be found on the Investec website at this link.
To explain structured products in general and the Investec USD S&P 500 Autocall as the latest offering, Brian McMillan joined The Finance Ghost on this episode of Ghost Stories.
Topics covered included:
- The other side of options: using options as hedging instruments rather than tools of speculation;
- A history of structured products in the South African market;
- How to invest in Investec structured products through an independent financial advisor or broker;
- An overview of the key terms of the latest structured product, including the downside protection calculation and the upside potential;
- Liquidity in this structure; and
- The versatility of the product in terms of types of investors and portfolio strategies.
Equity ETFs tend to dominate the narrative among investors, particularly retail investors. Fixed income or bond ETFs are often ignored, which is a pity now that yields have picked up to current levels.
Fixed income instruments can be difficult to understand. The trick is in the name, as the capital value fluctuates based on a fixed underlying coupon and the yield that the market demands.
In shining a light on this asset class with Siyabulela Nomoyi from Satrix, we discussed:
- The reasons why a bond market exists, touching on how vibrant the local market has been for bond listings vs. equity listings
- The capital risk that comes with not holding a bond to maturity
- An indication of annual returns achieved in recent years by Satrix bond ETFs
- How these can be used in balanced portfolios
- Retail Savings Bonds and how they differ from Satrix bond ETFs
- The different Satrix bond ETFs and the underlying constituents
- The use of Satrix bond ETFs in a tax-free savings account
To find out more about SatrixNOW, visit this link>>>
Disclosure
Satrix Investments (Pty) Ltd is an approved FSP in term of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS). The information does not constitute advice as contemplated in FAIS. Use or rely on this information at your own risk. Consult your Financial Adviser before making an investment decision.
While every effort has been made to ensure the reasonableness and accuracy of the information contained in this podcast (“the information”), the FSP’s, its shareholders, subsidiaries, clients, agents, officers and employees do not make any representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or suitability of the information and shall not be held responsible and disclaims all liability for any loss, liability and damage whatsoever suffered as a result of or which may be attributable, directly or indirectly, to any use of or reliance upon the information.
This episode of Ghost Stories is brought to you by Fedgroup, a diversified financial services group offering a range of financial products across investment, long-term insurance, lending, and fiduciary services. Fedgroup Financial Holdings (Pty) Limited is a licensed controlling company and entities within the Group are authorised financial services providers.
Established in 1990, Fedgroup has grown into a specialist financial services provider with over R10bn in assets under management and administration.
I was joined on this show by Grant Field, the Group CEO of Fedgroup since 2015, having worked for the group since 2002. We talked about a range of topics related to Fedgroup but we focused on impact investing and the unique product range that Fedgroup offers in this space.
Innovators in the impact investing space, Fedgroup has extensive experience and expertise in alternative investments, specifically within the renewable energy and smart agri sectors.
Combining this specialist expertise with their established licenses and offerings, Fedgroup has the capabilities to structure new investment offerings, such as their Specialist Endowment Portfolios, creating unparalleled value for retail and institutional investors.
As always, nothing you hear on this podcast should be interpreted as advice. This is for informational purposes only.
You can visit the Fedgroup website at this link to learn more.
As we head into National Savings Month in July, Thembeka Khumalo of Satrix joined The Finance Ghost to talk about an incredibly important element of personal finance: investing for minor children.
Minor children tend to have major expenses, making it difficult for parents to strike a balance between monthly expenses and the need to save.
Thembeka has three-year-old twins and the Ghost also has a three-year-old, so this podcast comes from the heart.
Topics included:
- The importance of diligent investing on behalf of your children
- Why the power of compounding could be the best gift you ever give your children
- The concept of risk and how starting earlier helps in mitigating this issue
- The use of tax-free savings accounts as an investment vehicle for minors and the pros and cons thereof
- The SatrixNOW platform as a tool for parents to save for their kids (and themselves!)
To find out more about SatrixNOW, visit this link>>>
Disclosure
Satrix Investments (Pty) Ltd is an approved FSP in term of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS). The information does not constitute advice as contemplated in FAIS. Use or rely on this information at your own risk. Consult your Financial Adviser before making an investment decision.
While every effort has been made to ensure the reasonableness and accuracy of the information contained in this podcast (“the information”), the FSP’s, its shareholders, subsidiaries, clients, agents, officers and employees do not make any representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or suitability of the information and shall not be held responsible and disclaims all liability for any loss, liability and damage whatsoever suffered as a result of or which may be attributable, directly or indirectly, to any use of or reliance upon the information.
In this episode of Ghost Stories, Duma Mxenge (Business Development Manager at Satrix) joins the platform for the first time for a great discussion around ETFs, trends around this type of investment and the way that investors understand the products and use them.
More specifically, we discussed:
- Some of the generational trends coming through in the attitude to investing and particularly ETFs, including fees.
- The impact of fees in a wealth creation journey.
- Whether investors tend to have a good understanding of the underlying indices tracked by ETFs
- The approach to using ETFs and whether investors see this as a “playing safe” approach or a more active investment decision.
- A discussion around ETFs as the core underpin in a portfolio, leaving space for more speculative opportunities in single stocks.
- The value of local ETFs that track global indices vs. moving cash into foreign currency and incurring forex costs.
- The benefit of ETFs in the context of rebalancing of a portfolio of single stocks.
- Whether retail investors can do it all themselves vs. using financial advisors as part of the journey.
- The SatrixNOW platform and how it helps investors navigate this process.
For more from the Satrix – Ghost Mail partnership, visit this link to find various podcasts and articles.
Disclosure
Satrix Investments (Pty) Ltd is an approved FSP in term of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS). The information does not constitute advice as contemplated in FAIS. Use or rely on this information at your own risk. Consult your Financial Adviser before making an investment decision.
While every effort has been made to ensure the reasonableness and accuracy of the information contained in this podcast (“the information”), the FSP’s, its shareholders, subsidiaries, clients, agents, officers and employees do not make any representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or suitability of the information and shall not be held responsible and disclaims all liability for any loss, liability and damage whatsoever suffered as a result of or which may be attributable, directly or indirectly, to any use of or reliance upon the information.
Altvest has garnered a lot of attention in a short space of time. This financial services group is building in public, which is a very difficult thing to do as start-up losses are scrutinised by the market and pivots are a matter of public discussion rather than private decisions in a boardroom.
With a controversial approach at times to its public persona, much of the Altvest story has been lost in the noise.
Warren Wheatley approached me for a fireside chat to dig into the vision at Altvest and to address some of the historical matters on social media.
This is a raw, unedited discussion that lasted just over an hour. If you want to understand a lot more about the Altvest business and the challenges of building in public, this is for you.
Note:
An appearance on the Ghost Stories podcast is never an endorsement by me of a company's investment case, business model or share price. Always do your own research and arrive at your own decision. At the time of the release of this podcast, I do not currently own shares in Altvest or any related entity.
In this episode of Ghost Stories, Nico Katzke (Head of Portfolio Solutions at Satrix) returns to the platform for another fantastic discussion on a variety of finance topics, with the key theme being offshore vs. local investment.
With all the stresses that we face every day as South Africans, does it make sense to take money offshore at any cost and at any valuation? Or is there value to be found in the rand and on the local market?
We covered topics including:
- Why local vs. offshore is such an important (and emotive) topic for South Africans.
- Has the rand really been as bad as people think?
- The extent of offshore exposure that can already be obtained through investing on the JSE.
- The attractiveness of local yields.
- The importance of valuation in any assessment, as things aren’t usually as good or as bad as they seem.
- The recovery of China and the impact this has on local commodity players and luxury businesses.
- Is “home bias” an issue for South Africans, or do we ironically suffer from the reverse?
- The volatility paradox and how rand volatility interacts with volatility of other asset classes in investment funds.
- The value of letting data drive our decisions.
For more from the Satrix – Ghost Mail partnership, visit this link to find various podcasts and articles.
With the release of interim results for the six months ended February 2023, Purple Group is reflecting the broader economic and social issues that are plaguing South Africa. With huge pressure on consumer budgets, there simply isn’t enough left over for investment.
Purple Group and its EasyEquities business are cyclical and we are now at a painful point in the cycle. To unpack what that looks like and what the future of Purple Group holds, CEO Charles Savage joined me on Ghost Stories.
We discussed topics including:
- Trends in retail flows of users on the platform, including commentary on the different distribution partners (Capitec, Discovery, Telkom, Satrix and Bidvest).
- Bear case arguments like the potential deterioration of unit economics as the user base grows, or the decision to invest in the Philippines at a time when South African conditions are tough and demand focus.
- The mix of activity-based and annuity revenue in the EasyEquities business, with insight into the RISE business and the impact of its consolidation on the numbers.
- The pending launch of a fixed income product to help investors earn a yield on cash that is in their brokerage accounts, with some commentary around other product launches into the large user base.
- The performance of EasyProperties and EasyCrypto in this environment.
- The R150 million capital raise referenced in the results and how Charles is thinking about the sources and uses of this cash.
I hope that you enjoy this show and that it helps you in your assessment of the Purple Group share price. Please do your own research and remember that an appearance on Ghost Stories doesn’t mean that I endorse the company that the executive in question is representing.
Note: although EasyEquities is an important partner to Ghost Mail, my commentary on the Purple Group share price and business model has always been and will always be independent.
Load shedding isn’t fun. We know this. In a great example of never wasting a good crisis, there are investment opportunities in solar as South Africans effectively build a decentralised grid on private balance sheets.
Offering investors an indicative 18% IRR over 10 years through their new Twelve B Energy Fund, Jeff Miller of Grovest joined me to take a look at:
- An overview of alternative investments and how s12J set the scene for this asset class to be offered to retail investors in South Africa
- The danger of assuming that an entire asset class carries a specific risk profile, as the risk ultimately comes from the underlying exposure rather than the type of asset class (e.g. equities / bonds / alternatives)
- The way in which the tax allowances give a kicker to returns without increasing the risk of the underlying exposure
- The background to Grovest and how the business is positioned to take advantage of this environment
- The quality of the investments available to investors if we ignore the tax kicker i.e. the attractiveness of the underlying assets
- The way that Grovest thinks about gearing (the use of debt to boost equity returns) in a structure like this and how investors can think about their own gearing
- The cash-on-cash return vs. the return achieved through an eventual sale of the solar cash flows at the end of 10 years, with examples of existing market transactions for such cash flows
- The project pipeline and the strategy to deploy the full R200 million being raised, with a discussion on the impact of not matching the tax deduction to the cash flows
- The relationship with Hooray Power as the EPC for these solar projects and the way that this addresses a key risk in solar: project execution risk
- The sensitivity of the returns to the terminal value
- Minimum investment size and the important point that there is no cap on the investment
- A discussion on the capital gains tax and recoupment considerations
- The difference between invested capital and risk capital and how this relates to the Grovest fees in this investment
- An overview of the investment committee
For more information, visit twelveb.co.za and reach out to the team with any questions by emailing apply@twelveb.co.za. You can also visit the Grovest website for more information on the broader group.
Twelve B Fund Managers (Pty) Ltd is an approved juristic representative of Black Mountain Investment Management Proprietary Limited, an Authorised Financial Services Provider FSP No 49908.
NOTE: this podcast is for information purposes only and is not a recommendation, nor should it be interpreted as financial advice or an endorsement of the Twelve B product by The Finance Ghost. Do your own research and consult with your independent financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
In this special episode of Ghost Stories, there's no sponsor. There is no company partnering with me to bring a message to market under normal conditions.
Instead, we find a CEO who was willing to engage with me on very short notice after comments I made in Ghost Mail. Given the circumstances around Transaction Capital at the moment, I jumped at the opportunity.
With David Hurwitz in the hot seat, we talked about:
- In layman’s terms, what does SA Taxi do and what are the conditions under which the business performs?
- What did Transaction Capital mean about the issues in SA Taxi being “structural” and is this really an accurate view on the industry?
- A discussion on how the banks play in this space and why Transaction Capital is different.
- Whether there is likely to ever be a viable alternative to the taxi sector and how government could play a role in the industry.
- The funding model for SA Taxi and how that balance sheet works, including a discussion on the contamination / cross-default risks and the duration of debt.
- SANTACO’s position in this crisis and how they are thinking about the relationship.
- Bluntly – is SA Taxi going to be OK and to what extent did the management team see this coming?
- An overview of the Nutun business and how it will grow.
- How can investors be confident that an SA Taxi-style nightmare isn’t brewing at WeBuyCars?
- A discussion on the margins at WeBuyCars in cheaper vehicles vs. more expensive vehicles.
- An overview of GoMo and how quickly this business can be built up.
I haven't edited even a single "um" out of this podcast, so this is the conversation precisely as I had it with David.
As anyone who regularly follows me will know, I hold a long position in Transaction Capital at the time of release of this podcast. Please note that you must do your own research before deciding to enter or exit a position in Transaction Capital, or any other company for that matter!
I hope that this podcast will enhance your understanding of what has happened at Transaction Capital and what could happen in future.
In the markets, we are often our own worst enemies. Bias clouds our decision making, making it difficult to take a logical and unemotional approach to each investment or trading decision. An understanding of bias is the first step in winning the battle against our own minds, with application to decision-making that goes far beyond your investment portfolio!
Kingsley Williams, Chief Investment Officer of Satrix, joined me to talk about:
- An introduction to behavioural finance and cognitive bias, including some suggestions on further reading.
- Superiority bias: the belief that we are better than the average and how this impacts the choice of active funds over time based on performance vs. the benchmark.
- Anchoring bias: poor decision making as a result of anchoring to a particular number or outcome, making it difficult to accept an alternative.
- Confirmation bias: pre-existing beliefs that limit our ability to interpret new information, especially when it goes against what we believed to be true.
- Action bias: the fear of doing nothing, even when it’s the right thing to do.
At the intersection of psychology and finance, we find these fascinating topics. Whether you have been exposed to these topics before or not, this podcast is an excellent investment of your time.
Disclaimer
Satrix Investments (Pty) Ltd is an approved financial service provider in terms of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, No 37 of 2002 (“FAIS”). Satrix Managers (RF) (Pty) Ltd (Satrix) is a registered and approved Manager in Collective Investment Schemes in Securities. The information above does not constitute financial advice in term of FAIS. Consult your financial advisor before making an investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.
Roy Bagattini has led a strong turnaround at Woolworths, putting the group back on track and rewarding shareholders in the process. It didn’t come a moment too soon, with our electricity crisis putting retailers under immense pressure. There’s simply no margin for error in this environment or room for distraction.
In this candid discussion, I picked Roy’s brain on a wide variety of topics including:
- The denim strategy in Woolworths (hardly a coincidence given Roy's background at Levi's) and how the clothing business thinks about category leadership
- Roy’s global experience and why he continues to spend his time building a business in South Africa, when he could pick just about anywhere else in the world instead
- The strength of the Woolworths brand and particularly Woolworths Food among South Africans
- The immense challenge of load shedding, particularly for a business that has its cold chain as a key differentiator, along with how Woolworths is responding to this threat across alternative energy sources and replenishment strategies in the store
- The pricing strategy in Woolworths Food to make the products more accessible to customers, with targeted price investment across certain products or categories
- Consumer preferences in terms of online vs. in-store sales and the percentage of the basket price that Woolworths believes is incremental to what customers planned to spend
- The economics of online fulfilment for retailers, with commentary on grocery vs. clothing retail and the usefulness of dark stores
- Why Country Road can win where David Jones failed in the Australian market
- Other geographical expansion plans for the group
- Trends in trading space across Fashion, Beauty and Home on one hand and Food on the other.
- New store formats, including an expansion into liquor and other convenience formats
- Key focus areas over the short term for Roy and the broader business
At a time when it’s easier to feel hopeless about South Africa rather than hopeful, it’s refreshing to speak with an executive who is bullish on the future without being blind to the challenges.
This episode of Ghost Stories is brought to you by EasyEquities, encouraging investors to do their own research and make informed decisions in the market. Nothing in this podcast should be considered an endorsement of Woolworths as an investment opportunity by either The Finance Ghost or EasyEquities.
The Finance Ghost does not hold a position in Woolworths at the time of release of this podcast.
EasyEquities is a product of First World Trader (Pty) Ltd t/a EasyEquities which is an authorised financial services provider (FSP 22588).
In this episode of Ghost Stories, Nico Katzke (Head of Portfolio Solutions at Satrix) joined The Finance Ghost to unpack a wide variety of investment topics. There is something in here for literally everyone, with numerous insights available to you in this detailed discussion.
Topics covered included:
- A brief overview of why 2022 was so hard for investors.
- The difference between growth and value investing, explained in a way you likely haven’t heard before.
- The VIX and the DXY and why these market metrics are useful in practice.
- The disappointment of gold over this period.
- Equity investing in the context of higher rates in the market, both over the short- and long-term.
- Being careful of the growth component that is found in most leading indices.
- The relative outlook for value vs. growth.
- Artificial Intelligence as a theme and the potential disruption of Google.
- Achieving real diversification through suitable portfolio allocation.
- The importance of consistently investing over a long period of time.
- The misconception of active vs. passive investing and how passive should rather be thought of as “rules-based” investing.
Disclaimer
Satrix Investments (Pty) Ltd is an approved financial service provider in terms of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, No 37 of 2002 (“FAIS”). Satrix Managers (RF) (Pty) Ltd (Satrix) is a registered and approved Manager in Collective Investment Schemes in Securities. The information above does not constitute financial advice in term of FAIS. Consult your financial advisor before making an investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.
In the latest episode of Ghost Stories, Renergen CEO Stefano Marani took a break from a busy capital raising schedule to have an in-depth conversation with The Finance Ghost. After the first half of the show focused on the background to the project and the importance of helium to the global economy, the second half looked at the capital raising strategy.
Topics covered in the show include:
- Stefano’s background in investment banking in the pre-GFC days, with the events of 2008/2009 leading to a career shift and the eventual investment in what would become Renergen.
- The future-proof nature of helium, including several examples of industrial and technological applications for which there is no known substitute.
- The importance of government support over the lifetime of this project.
- South Africa’s geographical and geopolitical positioning, both of which are helpful to Renergen.
- The logistical challenges around transportation of liquid helium.
- Renergen’s plan to self-power its operations, making it grid agnostic in a country that we know doesn’t have enough electricity.
- The Cryo-Vacc and the helium tokens – what happened to these headline grabbers?
- The group structure and the way this drives the capital raising strategy with asset-specific funding partners.
- An overview of Phase 1 vs. Phase 2 of the project.
- The use of accelerated bookbuilds and why they are a necessity in South Africa vs. rights offers.
- The capital raising strategy going forward, including the pursuit of a full listing on a US exchange rather than an OTC listing.
- The likelihood of achieving meaningful liquidity in the US vs. what a company like Karooooo has experienced on the Nasdaq.
- And on a fun note – the positive social impact of Renergen’s sponsorship of local rally racing.
This podcast is brought to you by Renergen. Visit the corporate website for more information on the group.
In this episode of Ghost Stories, Siyabulela Nomoyi (Quantitative Portfolio Manager at Satrix) joined The Finance Ghost to talk about the importance of China not just to the South African market, but to global markets in general.
We discussed:
- Why China is such an important partner to South Africa (and especially our mining industry).
- The sheer scale of China as a consumer market and the impact this has not just on US-based companies, but on a locally listed company like Richemont.
- The obvious link to the JSE that everyone talks about: Naspers/Prosus and the investment in Tencent.
- The risks in Chinese stocks over the past year or so, with Alibaba as the perfect example.
- Historical valuation multiples in Chinese stocks and how the current levels compare to those lows.
- South Africa's political allegiance in BRICS and the related strategic partnerships.
- The importance of the property sector in China and related support measures.
- How the relationship between sentiment and reality can drive substantial changes in valuation, particularly in geographies like China.
- The comeback in Chinese valuations as the economy has reopened.
- Interesting ways to play the look-through to China, with Nike as an example of a company with significant indirect exposure to the country.
- The importance of diversification in managing volatility.
- Demographic changes in China in terms of the working population and how this drives investment in different sectors, like healthcare.
- China’s approach to interest rates, which has been different to other emerging markets that tried to hike ahead of the Fed.
- The use of ETFs, like the Satrix MSCI China ETF which tracks the MSCI China Index that captures large and mid-cap Chinese equities, or the Satrix MSCI Emerging Markets ETF that has China as the largest country in its holdings. Bond exposure through an ETF is possible as well. Don’t forget the Satrix RESI ETF, which gives exposure to the resources sector in South Africa, with clear look-through exposure to China.
Disclaimer
Satrix Investments (Pty) Ltd is an approved financial service provider in terms of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, No 37 of 2002 (“FAIS”). Satrix Managers (RF) (Pty) Ltd (Satrix) is a registered and approved Manager in Collective Investment Schemes in Securities. The information above does not constitute financial advice in term of FAIS. Consult your financial advisor before making an investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.
Trive South Africa offers a gateway to the JSE and global markets. Providing an in-depth online trading experience, Trive exists to empower progression. You can simply and securely trade and invest in JSE and US stocks and leveraged products, or invest in tax free savings accounts.
In this episode of Ghost Stories with Trive South Africa CEO Travis Robson, we cover:
- An overview of Trive’s global business and the international perspective that the group is bringing to South Africa.
- The extent of the group’s investment in South Africa and the significant team that has been built in Trive South Africa, a show of faith in our economy and the strength of our financial markets.
- The focus on both technology and customer service to provide more sophisticated traders and investors with the potential to take their wealth beyond its current levels, particularly by finding the right mix.
- A discussion on the broker landscape in South Africa and what is needed to attract, retain and develop retail stockbroking clients.
- The unplanned creation of the Trust Trive with Travis hashtag – a tongue-in-cheek response to a business that genuinely wants to create a trusted brand in the market.
- Lessons learnt while building a startup within an international organisation.
- The benefits of bringing different cultures and backgrounds to a business.
- The concept of a “Trive Tribe” and the trading and investment community being built around the business, combining the best of Trive’s trading technology and its telephone broking / research offering.
- The reasons why people trade and invest, which often go beyond the financial incentivisation – for so many, the markets are a hobby and a great love, confirmed by Travis’ extensive research in our local market.
- The risk of gamification in trading platforms.
For more information on Trive South Africa, visit the website at www.trive.co.za or check out their social media pages (@trive_sa).
Trive South Africa (Pty) Ltd is an Authorised Financial Services Provider, FSP number 27231.
Carel Nolte and Charles Savage met at school, yet it was many years later at the finish line of the Comrades Marathon (of all places) that the two bumped into each other again. Charles pitched the idea of EasyEquities to Carel and the rest is history, with the two embarking on a journey that probably made the Comrades seem simple.
In this episode of Ghost Stories, we delve into the data around the behaviour of investors on the EasyEquities platform. We look at concepts like popular stocks, the use of offshore accounts and the amount of brokerage that EasyEquities has helped these investors save.
Along the way, we discussed various listed companies and how important ETFs are for any investment portfolio.
Get ready for an insightful and fun episode with a guest who has been instrumental in the success of the EasyEquities platform.
DISCLAIMER: EasyEquities is a product of First World Trader (Pty) Ltd t/a EasyEquities which is an authorised Financial Services Provider. FSP number: 22588. This material is not intended as and does not constitute financial advice or any other advice and is neither exhaustive nor prescriptive. The views expressed by the contributor are his or her own (as an independently registered financial services provider, financial adviser or other independent capacity), and not necessarily endorsed by EasyEquities (as a separate financial services provider).
At times when global markets are falling, inflation is rising and there are no clear signals on whether to buy or sell – like now – a diversified portfolio that includes an alternative asset class looks appealing. In OrbVest's view, medical real estate in the US can be considered a "safe-haven asset" because it offers a stable income stream alongside wealth preservation.
Medical tenants are reluctant to move, so they enter into long-term leases. With net leases commonly in place (i.e. costs are for the account of the tenant) and escalation clauses generally built into the leases, these medical real estate assets offer attractive US dollar returns and protection against inflation.
OrbVest has now made this even more attractive for South African investors, with a minimum investment size of just $1,000 and the ability to invest into OrbVest Diversified Holdings (ODH), spreading risk beyond a single tenant or building.
To help us understand more about the OrbVest business, Justin Clarke (Operational Director at OrbVest) joined me on this episode of Ghost Stories. Before delving into this asset class and the structure behind the investment opportunity, Justin shared his fascinating back-story as the founder of Private Property. The business managed to survive two global crises and attracted funding from Tiger Global Management as part of a wild journey of building a tech platform during the early days of the internet.
This episode includes great insights into Justin's life as a founder and now his role at OrbVest, so there's truly something here for everyone.
Click here to read more about OrbVest. Please remember that past performance is no guarantee of future returns. OrbVest SA (Pty) Ltd is a registered FSP with registration number 50483.
Ghost Stories is a long-form podcast that gives me the opportunity to have deeper conversations with founders, executives and market participants who have a great story to tell.
In the inaugural episode, I welcome a founder who has literally reshaped the way people in South African invest in the market. EasyEquities has opened doors that were previously closed, enabling retail investors to build wealth in a cost-effective manner.
In a conversation lasting over an hour, we covered numerous points related to the story of EasyEquities, the purpose of the business, the use of partnerships, the product roadmap, the total addressable market and more.
This show is for every entrepreneur who wants to learn from a great founder and every EasyEquities investor who wants to get closer to the business. Get ready to learn from Charles about:
- Spotting a market opportunity
- Taking the plunge to build a business that was guaranteed to lose money unless it became the biggest in the market
- The discipline required to build a differentiated product
- The culture at EasyEquities and why it delivers a sustainable competitive advantage
- The decision to stay in South Africa and build a business here despite the obvious challenges we all face in this country
- The quality of investors using the platform and how they have defied the naysayers who believed they would lose money and run away during a bear market – the data tells a very different story
- The way EasyEquities think about launching new financial products to the user base
- The thinking behind equity partnerships (like Sanlam) and route to market partnerships (like Capitec and Discovery)
- The global total addressable market for EasyEquities and how the management team assesses new international markets for expansion
We ended off with a fun question to Charles about three local and three global stocks that are in his portfolio. The local choices are focused on energy and the global picks are focused on tech, which isn’t a surprise!
This podcast is for every South African investor. We hope you enjoy it!
DISCLAIMER: EasyEquities is a product of First World Trader (Pty) Ltd t/a EasyEquities which is an authorised Financial Services Provider. FSP number: 22588. This material is not intended as and does not constitute financial advice or any other advice and is neither exhaustive nor prescriptive. The views expressed by the contributor are his or her own (as an independently registered financial services provider, financial adviser or other independent capacity), and not necessarily endorsed by EasyEquities (as a separate financial services provider).