This article was written for Investment Solutions and appears on their website (http://blog.investmentsolutions.co.za/strategic-investment-opportunities-as-low-returns-persist/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20InvestmentSolutionsUpdates%20%28Investment%20Solutions%29) but the graphs aren’t as clear as I would like so I’m re-posting them here.  If we pull back the lens from the day-to-day noise reported in the financial media, we see that returns on traditional financial markets meandered lower again in … More Active investment decisions required as low returns persist

Useful overview of recent political developments. It’s good to read this type of overview to be reminded of a few historical elements which can easily be forgotten. It also allows one to take a broader view of political developments. On a slight negative note, I actually read the book a little bit too quickly. I hoped for … More Book Review: When Zuma Goes by Ralpha Mathekga

The battle to control the South African political narrative has reached fever pitch as various special interests try and sway popular opinion. A comment from the new South African police commissioner Fikile “Mr. Razmataz” Mbalula caught my eye this weekend as he tried to paint former Finance Minister Gordhan as an enemy of “the people” and score a … More The battle for the political narrative – Pravin Gordhan is a statist socialist, not South Africa’s market friendly saviour

A notable portion of the post budget narrative has centred a new income tax bracket at 45% for those earning R1.5mn or more – “the wealth tax”. Unfortunately this debate quickly degenerates into often unconstructive political haggling. This conversation is also a major distraction, a red herring, from a far more concerning trend in South … More Wealth tax Red Herring: Budget 2017 was an assault on all South African’s not employed by government

This article originally appeared in the 20 October version of finweek: collective-insight-october-2016-3 Political awareness has exploded in 2016 after Brexit sent shockwaves through financial markets. Yes, the UK economy will survive and financial markets have recovered post the decision but the UK has been set on a completely different political trajectory. In this instance politics … More Coming full circle: investments succumb to politics

Here is the link to an article that I will write on a quarterly basis for Investment Solutions:   Click to access GlobalOutlook.pdf  

I often get asked, “how can gold rise if there is a risk of deflation? I thought gold was a hedge against inflation?” The real reason why gold does well when there is sharp monetary deflation is because of the risk that deflation poses to the banking system. Under period of sharp monetary deflation, debtors’ … More Gold hedges against monetary inflation and deflation