Explore the Category

Working to lead and shape the investments industry

04 July 2017

Working South Africans cannot retire comfortably – this is the reality our industry and our country is dealing with. The 2016 Alexander Forbes Member Watch™ Survey shows that only 6% of retirement fund members can retire at their current standard of living. This is a statistic we’re on a mission to change at Alexander Forbes Investments.

Returns in perspective

04 July 2017

The month ended on a fairly dramatic note after traders interpreted European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi’s innocuous comments, on the strengthening Eurozone economy, as signalling an approaching end to monetary policy stimulus. At the same monetary policy conference, statements by his Bank of England counterpart were also interpreted as talking up prospects of rate hikes. As a result global bonds sold-off, the euro and pound gained against the dollar and stocks also hit a wobble. But this does not appear to be a repeat of 2013’s ‘taper tantrum’ when markets sold-off sharply after then US Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke suggested that stimulus could be pared back. While growth in Europe is indeed looking good, inflation remains very low – and is falling – and the ECB has no need to rush towards the exit.

Combining technology and human judgement is the most powerful investment tool of the future

04 July 2017

Coined in the wake of the 2016 United States presidential election, the buzzword “fake news” continues to be a source of frustration amongst politicians, media houses and big corporates alike. In the realm of investing, however, whether information is based on fact or fiction is less of a concern, as the real value exists in an investor’s ability to objectively read the market sentiment that this incessant ream of information is inciting.

The goose that lays the golden eggs – opportunities in quality smaller companies

04 July 2017

Contrarian value investing can be likened to sifting through a field of pebbles hoping to find that discarded nugget of gold. Sometimes you spend a long time looking and come up empty-handed, and sometimes the nuggets are plentiful. However, you can secure the richest pickings and save yourself all that effort if you find the goose that lays the golden eggs.

quick poll

Question

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

Answer

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

View the Results