MARKETS AND ECONOMICS  It was another sea of red for markets in September, with equities, bonds, and currencies (relative to the dollar) all suffering losses during the month. Markets, once...

MARKETS AND ECONOMICS  Inflation and growth concerns continued to be the key drivers in August, as investors try to gauge just how far central banks are willing to go to...

MARKETS AND ECONOMICS  The month of July brought some much-needed relief after the end of the second quarter, which consisted of significant drawdowns and volatility across asset classes. Most asset...

MARKETS AND ECONOMICS  It was another tough month for the financial markets, as selling pressures seemed to accelerate towards the end of the second quarter of 2022. These drawdowns came...

MARKETS AND ECONOMICS  After experiencing a downward trend for most of the month of May, and reaching intra-month drawdowns of between 4.5% and 6%, both local and global markets posted...

MARKETS AND ECONOMICS  It was a tough month for investors, with little place to hide, as most asset classes delivered either negative or very muted returns amid continued uncertainty driven...

KEY POINTS: Markets will be volatile, owing to interest rate hikes and higher inflation This is not necessarily negative for equity markets Cash, both local and global, delivers negative real...

Flexible income funds can invest in various income-generating instruments, such as bonds, property, and global, to enhance the yield above money market rates. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis resulted in negative...

MARKETS AND ECONOMICS  It was a tough start to the year in January, for offshore markets in particular. Rising geopolitical tensions between the United States (US) and Russia, a more...

MARKETS AND ECONOMICS  Markets were driven by similar themes as in September, namely the expectation of tapering and interest rate hikes on the back of rising inflation, Chinese growth and...

MARKETS AND ECONOMICS  September was a relatively volatile month across many markets, as investors continue to digest and to react to the spread of the Delta variant, the timeline for...

MARKETS AND ECONOMICS  Global markets provided strong returns for August amidst many market-moving events and news, including significant geopolitical tension from the situation in Afghanistan and continued regulatory intervention in...

MARKETS AND ECONOMICS  Market performance was relatively mixed for June, especially among equity markets, while bond yields ended mostly higher. Apart from a few areas of performance, it seems that...

MARKETS AND ECONOMICS  We have firmly entered the end of the first half of 2021 with another busy month that has passed: from inflation scares, a crypto-crash, conflict in the...

MARKETS AND ECONOMICS  April provided another strong batch of returns as general positive sentiment, driven by increasing levels of global stimulus, stronger global growth combined with a weakening United States...

The end of March also signalled the end of the first quarter of 2021. For local investors, Q1 was a highly rewarding period, with the typical balanced portfolio (ASISA Multi...

MARKETS Global inflation fears resurfaced in February, playing off against optimism around the US stimulus package and continued vaccine rollouts. Locally, we had the State of the Nation address, the...

In terms of economics, local interest rates were left unchanged at 3.5% even asinflation eased slightly to 3.1% for December. Manufacturing data disappointedfor November, and we were again confronted with...

ECONOMICS AND POLITICS  As suggested in the previous month’s commentary, growth in manufacturing, trade, and mining managed to drive a significant rebound in local Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the...

Financial markets delivered on the expectations of much better performance in November relative to prior months. Buoyed by optimism around the development and success of COVID-19 vaccines, progress in the...

MARKETS It seems that the 2020 whirlwind is showing no signs of easing, as October proved to be another rollercoaster month. Many countries went back into lockdown, United States (US)...

ECONOMICS, POLITICS AND COVID-19 It was a busy month in terms of economic data and market-moving events. In the US, the Federal Reserve disappointed the market as it failed to...