Simon’s weekly wrap: Unravelling the impact of SA’s greylisting

As an investment community we seem to have moved on from our greylisting status, so I spoke with Bianca Botes from Citadel Global for an update. I asked about its impact and what government is doing to get us off the list. Certainly, we are seeing tangible negative impacts, but government does seem to be working on rectifying SA’s status.

You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.

US markets had a great start to the year, even if it is mostly the AI-inspired Magnificent Seven. I spoke with Helen Jewell from BlackRock about markets in Europe which also had a good start to 2023, returning 12% in the first six months. She still thinks there is value with some sectors looking really attractive.

You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.

The two big stories this week were June’s inflation number returning to within the target range at 5.4% and the MPC holding the interest rate steady. I spoke with Neo Ralefeta from Investec Treasury Structuring ahead of the rate announcement. He agreed the inflation rate was a great number and that we should see more decreases in the months ahead. He also expected no rate increase, which is exactly what we got.

You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.

The Anchor Capital quarterly asset allocation update is always a great read, and I spoke with Nolan Wapenaar, their co-CIO. He’s not worried about recession but is cautious on local equity and still likes local bonds yielding around 1% a month with the potential for capital gains as yields drop off.

You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.