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Interest rate increase could make South African consumers more vulnerable

30 June 2015

It is clear that the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) remains aware of the potential negative local effect of a rise in US rates should the US decide to hike rates this year. In the event that global capital flows to emerging markets (including South Africa) are negatively impacted, the rand could weaken further, potentially raising inflation expectations, which are already above the upper-end of the target band for the price-setters of the economy, namely businesses and trade unions.

Rand not as cheap as current levels suggest

29 June 2015

Currency exchanges are notoriously difficult to forecast, with the ongoing ‘currency wars’ bringing increased turbulence. This is according to Denzil Burger, Portfolio Manager at MacroSolutions, a boutique of Old Mutual Investment Group, who believes that cheap currencies do not necessarily make good buys and the rand, at its current levels, may not actually be as cheap as it appears to be.

Lessons from the World Economic Forum

24 June 2015

South Africa recently hosted a meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) where a number of international speakers gave some insight into the current state of the international economic landscape. The role of Africa in this landscape was also given particular attention.

Economic comment by Luke Doig

23 June 2015

Credit Guarantee’s weekly adverse indicator - a financial health barometer of firms across the entire economic spectrum – has recently spiked into territory normally witnessed in the early months of the year.

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Do you think short-term insurance broking will survive the AI plus humanoid robotics age?

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Human first always Not a chance Possibly maybe Yes, but reimagined

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