STEPHEN CRANSTON: We all know her name — Magda Wierzycka
Wierzycka is naturally mercurial and not naturally patient, but she has brought professional management into the business
STEPHEN CRANSTON: A recovery portfolio?
Investors should be able to cope with depressed returns for a year to 18 months before the turning point, when gains will be at their highest
STEPHEN CRANSTON: Mutual funds are the people’s favourite
The biggest challenge for mutual funds over the next few years is bound to be exchange traded funds
STEPHEN CRANSTON: Why SA needs to revive exports
There is still too much reliance on mining, even though its share of GDP has halved since 1994 to 8%
STEPHEN CRANSTON: Jack Bogle’s blind spot
Bogle’s principal objection to exchange traded products was that they do not lend themselves to long-term investment; they are priced throughout the day ...
STEPHEN CRANSTON: Markets that bewilder
So far it looks like financial markets still have a place in the SA developmental state
STEPHEN CRANSTON: Off balance in 2018
Out of the 23 firms in the 'Manager Watch Best Investment View' survey, only four portfolios made positive returns in the 11 months to November
STEPHEN CRANSTON: From A(jay) to Z(ondo)
There is no doubt that 2018 never lived up to initial expectations
STEPHEN CRANSTON: When defensive shares are anything but
One of the worst-performing large caps was Mediclinic, which was down 37%, much worse than the 12.4% of the Capped Swix benchmark
STEPHEN CRANSTON: The active-versus-passive investing debate
There is often more psychology than mathematics in active management
STEPHEN CRANSTON: Investec’s Stephen Koseff did it his way
Like Sinatra before him, Investec’s longtime CEO, Stephen Koseff, is on a farewell tour, and like Sinatra it is hard to believe it is the final curtain
STEPHEN CRANSTON: A painful separation
Building a UK-EU free-trade treaty could take many years. So far there are just a few platitudes in a political declaration
STEPHEN CRANSTON: A culture change
The investment heroes of today are no longer the glamorous stock-picking geniuses
STEPHEN CRANSTON: Motsepe walks the talk of broad-based empowerment
The Sanlam empowerment deal he leads has been the most successful by far
STEPHEN CRANSTON: Old-school appeal
The Liberty Advanced Global Equity T1 Portfolio won’t qualify as a world first
STEPHEN CRANSTON: Too many investment choices
It was simple in the days when there was one reputable index tracker. Now R84bn is invested into 97 ETFs and exchange traded notes
STEPHEN CRANSTON: Repent, active managers
Thanks to the rise of the Chartered Financial Analyst qualification there are now a million people in active investment management
STEPHEN CRANSTON: Not the Roodt roadshow
The Efficient Group, home of economist Dawie Roodt, is one of those small caps that certainly adds some choice to the financial sector
STEPHEN CRANSTON: The old SA of cross-shareholdings
There is often debate on whether it is better for a life office to own a bank or vice versa
