Shari'ah-compliant investing is a fascinating area in the world of finance. For those of the Islamic faith who choose to invest in this way, these products offered by Satrix are an excellent way to diversify a portfolio - especially with the launch of the Satrix MSCI World Islamic ETF which listed on the market on 22 October 2024. For those who aren't familiar with the Shari'ah rules and for those who want to brush up on them, this discussion with Yusuf Wadee of Satrix is a great way to...

Fedgroup is a specialist financial services provider with a legacy of putting people before profit, offering a range of stable and diversified investment options that help investors steer clear of market scares. With billions under management, Fedgroup ensures your investment decisions are stable so you don't have to worry about them coming back to haunt you. And in the month of Halloween, with ghosts everywhere (including on this podcast of course), it was great to be able to chat to Paul...

The Investec Rand India Accelerator offers geared exposure to growth in the iShares MSCI India ETF over the 3.6-year term. The ETF tracks the large and midcap Indian market, covering 85% of the India equity universe. Investec Rand India Accelerator is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and offers 1.5x geared exposure to the ETF capped at 40%, for a maximum return of 60% in Rands. In addition, the Accelerator provides a high degree of capital protection. To explain the opportunities and...

Factor investing takes ETFs to the next level. Instead of tracking a stock index (like the JSE Top 40), these ETFs have a set of rules based on investment fundamentals like valuation multiples or even levels of debt. The sky is the limit with the creativity that goes into these factors, but do they actually work? To unpack these types of ETFs and the thinking behind them, Nico Katzke of Satrix joined me for an insightful discussion. Satrix Investments Pty Limited and Satrix Managers RF Pty...

In this Ghost Stories podcast, Elzahne Henn of Forvis Mazars in South Africa sheds light on the common mistakes and misconceptions related to cross-border employment. This includes structures like South Africans working abroad, or working in South Africa but for a foreign company, along with other permutations. These insights are valuable for employers and employees alike. For clients who wish to obtain more information from Elzahne and the team at Forvis Mazars, she can be contacted at this...

With a strong belief that both ETFs and single stocks are relevant to any long-term portfolio strategy, The Finance Ghost hosted Siyabulela Nomoyi of Satrix to talk about why ETFs are so helpful - especially in the context of Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSA). Siya didn't waste the opportunity to ask questions about single stock research as part of the discussion, showing just how different the process is for choosing ETFs vs. single stocks. For those willing to put in the effort to expand...

In this excellent discussion with Nico Katzke, Head of Portfolio Solutions at Satrix Investments, we talked about a range of topics that are of great relevance to South African investors. This included: The performance of the local market in the aftermath of the election and why indices behaved differently How the carry trade works and why this tends to protect the rand The relative appeal of South African equities in this environment Property and government bonds as a way to play...

Paul Miller is an ex-investment banker with extensive experience not just in the markets, but in junior mining as well. He understands how important it is for a market to have an active base of retail investors, connecting capital to opportunities and encouraging more listings. Access to capital is the lifeblood for the junior mining sector, but it goes far beyond that. Through Utshalo, he is working to encourage listed companies to include retail investors in their capital raises, rather...

For investors who are looking for Japanese (Nikkei 225) or European (Euro Stoxx 50) exposure, Investec has launched two new structured products that provide potentially better returns than would otherwise be the case, while giving downside protection up to a certain level. It all comes down to how the index behaves over the time period of the investment, To explain the opportunities and risks of each product, Andri Joubert of Investec Structured Products joined me on this...

Does Fedgroup think differently about preserving and growing wealth for their clients? Perhaps their position as one of the largest beekeepers in the country answers that question. In this show, Michael Field (General Manager: Investments) joined me to unpack the way Fedgroup thinks about investing. The JSE has a small (and shrinking) pool of assets being chased by deep pools of capital. Alternative assets can offer inflation protection, diversification and stability in a portfolio that...

With volatility as the theme in markets in a year of elections, it's important to keep your head as an equity investor. Take a long-term view and let the market do its job. Easier said than done, of course. To assist with practical tips and important insights into key principles in investing (ranging from more basic concepts through to advanced topics like cyclically-adjusted P/E ratios), Kingsley Williams (Chief Investment Officer at Satrix)* joined The Finance Ghost on this podcast. The...

Tivon Loubser is all about chasing the sun - and generating investment returns from solar projects. Thanks to South Africa's ongoing need for renewable energy projects of every size, there are tax benefits available to investors for doing this. We unpack the opportunity in this podcast. The podcast is brought to you by Twelve B Fund Managers, a private equity fund entitling tax payers to invest in a portfolio of renewable energy generating assets and benefit from the recently gazetted 125%...

The world is increasingly focusing on private market opportunities and the benefits that they bring to a portfolio strategy. Whether equity or credit in nature, there are reasons to seriously consider the inclusion of private assets in a wealth strategy. In this podcast, Reginald Labuschagne (Head of Product and Strategy at Sanlam Private Wealth) and Harris Gorre (Partner at Grovepoint Investment Management) bring considerable experience to a discussion on private investment strategies and...

When planning your wealth creation journey, it helps to understand all the tools available in the toolbox. Bond ETFs remain poorly understood by many investors, leading to portfolio strategies that don’t include fixed income investments. In this podcast with Siyabulela Nomoyi of Satrix*, we put the spotlight on bond ETFs. We covered topics like the relationship between interest rates and capital values, the way in which these ETFs add value to a portfolio and the macroeconomic conditions that...

The Global Accelerator offers 100% capital protection in dollars at maturity after five years, while giving exposure to global equity indices. To explain how it all works, Japie Lubbe of Investec Structured Products joined me on this podcast and covered the following topics: The design of the underlying equity basket The use of “insurance” in an equity portfolio and how this can be understood in the context of more familiar concepts like car and home insurance The upside of the Global...

There’s a lot more to blockchain technology than just the latest Bitcoin or Ether price. After the boom of NFTs and all kinds of other things during the pandemic, things clearly cooled off in this space - and for the better. In the meantime, corporates and entrepreneurs are busy in the background on tokenisation of assets to create digital assets. In a digital economy, digital assets are important. The Fintech space is more widely understood. But again, it goes beyond just a payments solution...

Nico Katzke of Satrix* returns to Ghost Stories to talk about the latest buzzword of the moment: Artificial Intelligence (AI). This topic has been dominating market headlines for a while now and it poses both opportunities and risks. In this podcast, we discuss: The way in which some people run towards hype and others run in the opposite direction – talking to the different investor personalities in the market. Whether the development of cloud computing and SaaS can teach us anything about...

Brian McMillan of the Structured Products team at Investec is back on Ghost Stories, this time to talk about the Investec Nikkei 225 Autocall. This product is designed to give investors exposure to the Nikkei 225 index over a period of up to five years with an enhanced return of up to 17% per annum in ZAR or 11.5% per annum in USD. Importantly, there is 100% capital protection provided the index does not drop by more than 30%. To help you understand this opportunity, the topics covered...

In this episode of Ghost Stories, Siyabulela Nomoyi returned to the platform once more to talk about two exciting product launches at Satrix. Of course, The Finance Ghost couldn’t resist kicking off the show with a question around whether Siya stuck to his festive season savings goals that were discussed at the end of 2023 in a previous episode! Moving on to all things ETF related, topics of discussion included: How Satrix approaches the product design process. An overview of the Satrix MSCI...

Deon Lewis (co-founder of Futureneers) and James Rothmann (Projects Director and Tax Innovation Officer at Futureneers) joined The Finance Ghost to talk about the 12BA Renewable Energy Partnership and the opportunity it offers investors for a tax-enhanced investment in solar. On this podcast, we talked about topics including: The background of Futureneers and the investment track record. The return profile of the solar projects both with and without the tax benefits. The way the tax works...

This is a big year for South Africa. Load shedding returned literally straight after the State of the Nation Address, creating a difficult foundation for the Budget Speech. The headlines are full of political activity in the build-up to elections. There's a lot going on. Tertius Troost is in the Tax Consulting team at Mazars, so this is a busy month to say the least. He took time away from a hectic February tax diary to share insights as a preview to the Budget Speech. Why is this important?...

Welcome to 2024! An investing strategy can only be successful if there is money available to invest. In the first part of this podcast, The Finance Ghost and Duma Mxenge discussed concepts like: The value of planning ahead and how this can save money (e.g. when booking holidays – especially to cheaper jurisdictions than South Africa!) The usefulness of sitting with a financial advisor earlier in the year. Dangers of living bonus-to-bonus each year. The reality of middle-class inflation in...

We are now in December, which is generally a month of spending rather than investing. Of course, it shouldn’t be that way if you have the correct financial plan in place, a topic that Siyabulela Nomoyi (Quantitative Portfolio Manager at Satrix) joined me to discuss. We couldn’t resist the opportunity to dig into ETFs as well! In the final Ghost Stories podcast with Satrix for 2023, topics covered included: The right way to think about saving and investing, particularly in the context of...