It’s not always easy to see, but there are unexpected positives in South Africa’s current financial situation. Of all the segments of our population who could be grumbling, many would say that SME owners are right up there. Squeezed like the middle-class tax payers, but with the added brutal success figures of less than 10 […]

When it comes to coffee-shop conversations, little is said about the long game in the investment space – it’s often about which asset manager did well this year, what outperformed everything else in the last quarter… etc. But, if you’re an investor, chances are high that you’re saving for future events that have a five-year-plus […]

South Africans (and many others) sometimes suffer from an unbalanced bias when it comes to the United States: we assume that anything American is top-class. Certainly, when talking about the markets, South Africa’s indices and analyses are always about what America is doing. The dollar has, for a long time, been the most influential currency. […]

South Africa is an enterprising and entrepreneurial nation… which is why it’s interesting that it can be so tough to do business here. Of all new businesses started in South Africa, nine out of ten of them will close their doors within the first two years. Government grants are talked up but are thin on […]

There is a lot of good financial advice out there which goes something like this: ‘you know that money you don’t use every month? Well, take R50,000 and invest it in X now, and you’’ be happy later.’

Sound familiar?

It’s Women’s Month, and we’ve been thinking lately about all the ways in which women are wonderful in matters of money.

Women as investors don’t get praised often enough – there’s been an unfortunate stereotype in the past that keeps finances in ‘man territory’. Today, we’d like to honour the ladies in our stock markets and on our shareholders’ boards and count the ways in which they rock and the things male investors can learn from them.

If there were a set of commandments for investing, the first commandment may well be this: know your seasons.

Just like a surfer or fisherman know the tides of their favourite spots, prudent investors know the market cycles.

A well-balanced, diversified portfolio is a joy for all seasons, giving something no matter what various markets or asset classes are doing. An overly concentrated portfolio is the opposite, a ticking time bomb volatile to fluctuations in macroeconomics and other influencers of the share price.

There are always bills to pay and money needed for something or another, and few things seem as boring and unnecessary than an emergency fund. While you can enjoy the rewards of spending on, say, a good winter coat, or can see the benefits of saving for something like university for the kids, emergency funds are, by nature, never seen.

A well-balanced, diversified portfolio is a joy for all seasons, giving something no matter what various markets or asset classes are doing. An overly concentrated portfolio is the opposite, a ticking time bomb volatile to fluctuations in macroeconomics and other influencers of the share price.