It has been an extremely challenging period in markets. Investors are disillusioned, while their portfolio managers have been humbled. Managers whose style maintained a bias towards the large-cap sector of the JSE are likely to have suffered negative returns regardless of their selection decisions. Giants such as MTN, Aspen and Tiger Brands declined by more than 40% during 2018, while a few other well-regarded names fell more than 30%. Naspers lost about a fifth of its value since the beginning of 2018 and even the ever popular property sector fell by a similar amount. Given this backdrop, it may be useful to take a step back and examine the environment we have walked through and the uncertainties that persist. From a global economic perspective, it seems the US found the last remaining chair at the party. Growth outperformance from this region, while keeping up with a tightening monetary policy stance, resulted in pressure increasing in other corners of the market, particularly in ...
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