Foreign investors perk up on prospects for SA
Merrill Lynch conference highlights positive shift among foreigners and local fund managers
Foreign investors are a lot more upbeat about SA’s politics and equity market than they were a year ago, and this was reflected in record attendance at the 18th annual Merrill Lynch investor conference last week. The foreign investors at the conference were looking to potential positive changes after the ANC’s elective conference and beyond, and fears of SA losing its investment grade in 2017 had been pushed out, Merrill Lynch SA investment strategist John Morris said on Thursday. The investment banking group’s latest survey of domestic fund managers found that only 18% of local fund managers expect SA to lose its investment grade rating this year, down from 70%-80% in 2016, at the time of the threats to Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan. Morris said if SA did get downgraded, it would only be in 2018. Local fund managers were also "macro-optimists" when it came to inflation and interest rates, with 75% expecting two interest-rate cuts within the next 12 months, with the first (of 25 b...
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