Nico Katzke is no stranger to Ghost Mail readers. He has written several articles in his role at Satrix and has appeared on a number of podcasts with me. In this show, there was more of a cross-over with personal finance than usual. The reality is that if you can’t save every month, then you also can’t invest. Topics we discussed included: Why does it make sense to treat your own financials like corporates do? And why is the concept of an inflection point in your income so important? How...

Mazars has announced a landmark network with Forvis, creating a top 10 firm in the USA. The CEO of Mazars in South Africa, Anoop Ninan, joined me to unpack why this is important. Of course, I didn’t waste the opportunity to tap into his extensive business knowledge at the same time! Topics discussed included: An overview of the unique network with Forvis and why this is important in a professional services environment that is highly fragmented in the assurance and related services space. How...

Nico Katzke of Satrix is a familiar voice to Ghost Mail readers and podcast enthusiasts. He’s back on Ghost Stories, with a fantastic twist halfway through the podcast where we switched roles and he started asking me questions. Nico in the hot seat: Diversification vs. “diworsification” – a topic always worth revisiting, with commentary on the impact on the market as a whole and an understanding of correlation. The danger of only seeing the highlights reel of an investment journey, masking...

After I wrote critically about the pricing of African Bank’s deal to acquire two businesses out of Sasfin, the company contacted me to discuss the thinking behind the deal in more detail. I was highly impressed with the willingness to engage, especially as African Bank graciously recognised that Ghost Mail’s free-to-read format is only made possible by partners. The bank opted to sponsor a podcast appearance by African Bank CEO Kennedy Bungane, who has been in the banking industry for over...

Structured products have come a long way. From a specialised, exotic investment tool, they are now mainstream, and financial advisers are now more comfortable about investing in them on behalf of clients. Having covered the Investec USD S&P 500 Autocall on a previous podcast (Episode 19 of Ghost Stories), we now move on to the Optimal Investment Growth Basket Limited promoted by Investec. This product offers a maximum annualised return in USD of 9.8% per annum over five years, with 100%...

The universe of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) is broad, offering investors many different ways to invest in the market. Not only are there various different sector and weighting methodologies available, but Satrix ETFs offer South African investors a way to make perhaps the biggest decision of all: offshore vs. local exposure. As we reflect on ETF performance in 2023, Siyabulela Nomoyi of Satrix joined The Finance Ghost to look at topics like: Offshore vs. local performance and the impact of...

Are dividends always worth celebrating? Does a company paying a dividend really reward shareholders, or is this just shuffling money around? These are the kinds of questions that Nico Katzke of Satrix discussed with The Finance Ghost on this episode of Ghost Stories. Nico is a wealth of information about the markets and these podcasts are always highly interactive. Topics covered included: Headlines were all over the place recently about Michael Burry shorting the US market – did the media...

Structured products have come a long way. From a specialised, exotic investment tool, they are now mainstream, and financial advisers are now more comfortable about investing in them on behalf of clients. A perfect example is the Investec USD S&P 500 Autocall, where investors can earn a potential return of up to 8.4% p.a. if the index ends flat or positive on one of the call dates in year 3, 4 or 5. Provided the index does not end below 70% of the initial index level, there is full...

Equity ETFs tend to dominate the narrative among investors, particularly retail investors. Fixed income or bond ETFs are often ignored, which is a pity now that yields have picked up to current levels. Fixed income instruments can be difficult to understand. The trick is in the name, as the capital value fluctuates based on a fixed underlying coupon and the yield that the market demands. In shining a light on this asset class with Siyabulela Nomoyi from Satrix, we discussed: The reasons why...

This episode of Ghost Stories is brought to you by Fedgroup, a diversified financial services group offering a range of financial products across investment, long-term insurance, lending, and fiduciary services. Fedgroup Financial Holdings (Pty) Limited is a licensed controlling company and entities within the Group are authorised financial services providers. Established in 1990, Fedgroup has grown into a specialist financial services provider with over R10bn in assets under management and...

As we head into National Savings Month in July, Thembeka Khumalo of Satrix joined The Finance Ghost to talk about an incredibly important element of personal finance: investing for minor children. Minor children tend to have major expenses, making it difficult for parents to strike a balance between monthly expenses and the need to save. Thembeka has three-year-old twins and the Ghost also has a three-year-old, so this podcast comes from the heart. Topics included: The importance of diligent...

In this episode of Ghost Stories, Duma Mxenge (Business Development Manager at Satrix) joins the platform for the first time for a great discussion around ETFs, trends around this type of investment and the way that investors understand the products and use them. More specifically, we discussed: Some of the generational trends coming through in the attitude to investing and particularly ETFs, including fees. The impact of fees in a wealth creation journey. Whether investors tend to have a...

Altvest has garnered a lot of attention in a short space of time. This financial services group is building in public, which is a very difficult thing to do as start-up losses are scrutinised by the market and pivots are a matter of public discussion rather than private decisions in a boardroom. With a controversial approach at times to its public persona, much of the Altvest story has been lost in the noise. Warren Wheatley approached me for a fireside chat to dig into the vision at Altvest...

In this episode of Ghost Stories, Nico Katzke (Head of Portfolio Solutions at Satrix) returns to the platform for another fantastic discussion on a variety of finance topics, with the key theme being offshore vs. local investment. With all the stresses that we face every day as South Africans, does it make sense to take money offshore at any cost and at any valuation? Or is there value to be found in the rand and on the local market? We covered topics including: Why local vs. offshore is...

With the release of interim results for the six months ended February 2023, Purple Group is reflecting the broader economic and social issues that are plaguing South Africa. With huge pressure on consumer budgets, there simply isn’t enough left over for investment. Purple Group and its EasyEquities business are cyclical and we are now at a painful point in the cycle. To unpack what that looks like and what the future of Purple Group holds, CEO Charles Savage joined me on Ghost Stories. We...

Load shedding isn’t fun. We know this. In a great example of never wasting a good crisis, there are investment opportunities in solar as South Africans effectively build a decentralised grid on private balance sheets. Offering investors an indicative 18% IRR over 10 years through their new Twelve B Energy Fund, Jeff Miller of Grovest joined me to take a look at: An overview of alternative investments and how s12J set the scene for this asset class to be offered to retail investors in South...

In this special episode of Ghost Stories, there's no sponsor. There is no company partnering with me to bring a message to market under normal conditions. Instead, we find a CEO who was willing to engage with me on very short notice after comments I made in Ghost Mail. Given the circumstances around Transaction Capital at the moment, I jumped at the opportunity. With David Hurwitz in the hot seat, we talked about: In layman’s terms, what does SA Taxi do and what are the conditions under...

In the markets, we are often our own worst enemies. Bias clouds our decision making, making it difficult to take a logical and unemotional approach to each investment or trading decision. An understanding of bias is the first step in winning the battle against our own minds, with application to decision-making that goes far beyond your investment portfolio! Kingsley Williams, Chief Investment Officer of Satrix, joined me to talk about: An introduction to behavioural finance and cognitive...

Roy Bagattini has led a strong turnaround at Woolworths, putting the group back on track and rewarding shareholders in the process. It didn’t come a moment too soon, with our electricity crisis putting retailers under immense pressure. There’s simply no margin for error in this environment or room for distraction. In this candid discussion, I picked Roy’s brain on a wide variety of topics including: The denim strategy in Woolworths (hardly a coincidence given Roy's background at Levi's) and...

In this episode of Ghost Stories, Nico Katzke (Head of Portfolio Solutions at Satrix) joined The Finance Ghost to unpack a wide variety of investment topics. There is something in here for literally everyone, with numerous insights available to you in this detailed discussion. Topics covered included: A brief overview of why 2022 was so hard for investors. The difference between growth and value investing, explained in a way you likely haven’t heard before. The VIX and the DXY and why these...

In the latest episode of Ghost Stories, Renergen CEO Stefano Marani took a break from a busy capital raising schedule to have an in-depth conversation with The Finance Ghost. After the first half of the show focused on the background to the project and the importance of helium to the global economy, the second half looked at the capital raising strategy. Topics covered in the show include: Stefano’s background in investment banking in the pre-GFC days, with the events of 2008/2009 leading to...

In this episode of Ghost Stories, Siyabulela Nomoyi (Quantitative Portfolio Manager at Satrix) joined The Finance Ghost to talk about the importance of China not just to the South African market, but to global markets in general. We discussed: Why China is such an important partner to South Africa (and especially our mining industry). The sheer scale of China as a consumer market and the impact this has not just on US-based companies, but on a locally listed company like Richemont. The...

Trive South Africa offers a gateway to the JSE and global markets. Providing an in-depth online trading experience, Trive exists to empower progression. You can simply and securely trade and invest in JSE and US stocks and leveraged products, or invest in tax free savings accounts. In this episode of Ghost Stories with Trive South Africa CEO Travis Robson, we cover: An overview of Trive’s global business and the international perspective that the group is bringing to South Africa. The extent...

Carel Nolte and Charles Savage met at school, yet it was many years later at the finish line of the Comrades Marathon (of all places) that the two bumped into each other again. Charles pitched the idea of EasyEquities to Carel and the rest is history, with the two embarking on a journey that probably made the Comrades seem simple. In this episode of Ghost Stories, we delve into the data around the behaviour of investors on the EasyEquities platform. We look at concepts like popular stocks,...

At times when global markets are falling, inflation is rising and there are no clear signals on whether to buy or sell – like now – a diversified portfolio that includes an alternative asset class looks appealing. In OrbVest's view, medical real estate in the US can be considered a "safe-haven asset" because it offers a stable income stream alongside wealth preservation. Medical tenants are reluctant to move, so they enter into long-term leases. With net leases commonly in place (i.e. costs...