Struggling consumers can expect to be hit hard in the next few months by a hike in the petrol price, which over the last two months has increased just short of one rand, the implementation of e-tolling, an electricity tariff increase of 16% and higher Metrorail fares. According to Henry van Deventer, financial planning coach [...]
Tag Archives | investing
Rand falls victim to Greek tragedy
By Malcolm Charles, fixed income portfolio manager, Investec Asset Management Greece, which continues to grapple with its uncertain economic future in the Eurozone, is exerting undue influence on financial markets. Despite its relatively small economy, the country is boxing above its weight as the world waits for some kind of resolution to the crisis, and [...]
Read full story • Comments are closed
Dangerous distortions
By Gavin Wood – Chief Investment Officer at Kagiso Asset Management Investors currently face challenging choices and curious contradictions when exposing their assets to the prospective returns financial markets have on offer. The problems stem largely from government and monetary authority interventions in response to the Global Financial Crisis. These interventions have driven down prospective [...]
Read full story • Comments are closed
South Africa’s strong corporate governance bodes well for an expected rise in shareholder activism
The new Companies Act (Act 71 of 2008) is widely expected to usher in a new era of shareholder activism. The new Act, which came into effect on 1 May 2011, for instance, makes it possible for minorities to call an annual general meeting with the support of only 10% of the issued shares. The [...]
Read full story • Comments are closed
Unpopular hospitality shares starting to show value for investors
While the South African hospitality industry continues to struggle through what has been a particularly grim few years, value based asset manager, RE:CM, says that opportunities in certain listed stocks in this sector are starting to appear for investors who are prepared to take uncomfortable positions with a longer timeframe. According to Faure Heymans, analyst [...]
Read full story • Comments are closed
South African asset managers in good health
During a visit to over 15 of the larger Cape-based asset managers, Glenn Silverman, Chief Investment Officer of Investment Solutions, discovered an industry in good health – brimming with ideas, confidence and growth plans. Though Silverman and his team are still to meet with the Johannesburg-based managers, and haven’t as yet focussed on smaller asset [...]
Read full story • Comments are closed
AIMS gives industry lead on easier retirement savings
Absa Investment Management Services (AIMS), the specialist linked investments provider at Absa Investments, has called on the rest of its sector to follow its lead and make it easier for salary-earners to save for retirement. AIMS has lowered its previous ceiling on monthly debit order contributions to retirement annuities (RAs) built on its linked investment [...]
Read full story • Comments are closed
Spend wisely for survival beyond festive season
There are no free lunches – which is why you will, out of necessity, suffer a guilt trip if you fail to exercise caution on spending during the festive season. That’s the message from the South African Savings Institute (SASI), which urges restraint in prudent preparation for demands on the pocket early on in 2012 [...]
Read full story • Comments are closed
Dinosaurs and volcanoes – making economic sense of our world
By Paul Stewart, managing director of Plexus Asset Management On a recent Dad’s morning out with the kids, we visited the Cape Town Museum. Among the wide array of exhibits vying for our attention was a display that caught the interest of my two-and-a–half-year-old son. It was a rather gory model of two prehistoric [...]
Read full story • Comments are closed
Tax Guide 2012
Latest Issue - 30 April 2012
In This Issue:
- Local and offshore ETFs
- Why stock selection is key
- Medical Survey - the cost of healthcare
- New player in life insurance market
Newsletters
Newsletter 17 May 2012: Lump sum versus debit order, 3 essentials for a confident investor
In today’s newsletter we look at investing with a lump sum or regular contributions – how do they stack up against each other? We also share three investment tips to cope with uncertainty. Being right about muddle-through hasn’t made investing any easier Most predicted that politically and often economically the year 2012 would be a [...]
