Investments

Beyond the rally

What Singles Day reveals about the Chinese investment opportunity

: Last year, Singles Day, generated an estimated 1.44 trillion-yuan ($156.4 billion) worth of sales – more than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined[1]. “Yet for many people living outside Asia, the shopping event is still relatively unknown, says JC Xue, fund manager on the Foord Asia ex-Japan Fund.”

Can local bonds continue to reward investors?

South African bonds have delivered strong returns for investors year-to-date, with the FTSE/JSE All Bond Index (ALBI) returning 14% for the nine months to September 2025. What makes this notable, is that it follows shortly on the heels of similarly exceptional double-digit returns for the 2024 calendar year, at 17% (source: Morningstar Direct). Looking ahead, what should fixed income investors expect?

What the Gold and AI booms mean for investors

Big market moves are becoming more common, with large gains in September carrying over into October. This is true for shares, bonds, currencies and commodities, with gold rocketing this year, up over 60%. Its parabolic price rise has been fueled by investors and central bank buying to diversify their assets away from US dollars amid concerns about the high level of debt, deficits and the independence of the US central bank.