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Articles tagged as "equities"

Insights category - companies

Putting heads in beds: Checking in on the hospitality sector

By Varshan Maharaj on 31 Oct 2024

Reading time: 10 mins

It has been said that travel is the only thing that one buys that makes you richer. Consumers seem to agree with this sentiment, evidenced by an increasing...

Insights categories - Local investing

How we balance the upside-downside risk in South African equities

By Duncan Artus on 08 Aug 2024

Reading time: 7 mins

We often write about large individual equity positions in our portfolios, but this quarter, Duncan Artus focuses on the opportunities and risks in “SA Inc” –...

Insights categories - Offshore investing

An offshore solution for the more cautious investor: introducing Orbis Global Cautious

By Nshalati Hlungwane on 08 Aug 2024

Reading time: 7 mins

We are pleased to introduce the Orbis SICAV Global Cautious Fund, which, as Nshalati Hlungwane discusses, meets the needs of more conservative investors...

Insights categories - Local investing

Navigating investment challenges: The interplay between skill and luck

By Jithen Pillay and Matthew Patterson on 05 Jun 2024

Reading time: 7 mins

Decision strategist and best-selling author Annie Duke advises focusing on a good process when trying to make the best decisions in highly uncertain scenario...

Insights categories - Personal investing

Investing amidst election season: The power of preparation, not prediction

By Nomi Bodlani on 22 May 2024

Reading time: 5 mins

If the election bug has bitten you and you are feeling jittery, you are not alone. Globally, investors are feeling fearful.

Insights categories - Local investing

50 years of investing in an evolving ecosystem

By Tamryn Lamb on 16 Nov 2023

Reading time: 14 mins

The asset management industry plays a key role in society, channelling capital from savers to where it is needed in the real economy, and in so doing, creati...

Insights categories - Personal investing

Three golden rules for achieving long-term, real investment returns

By Earl Van Zyl on 07 Aug 2023

Reading time: 7 mins

Whether you are accumulating capital for retirement, school or university expenses for your children or simply trying to ensure that you have money saved for...

Insights categories - Local investing

Are low-equity funds relevant in today’s investment universe?

By Martine Damonse on 03 Jul 2023

Reading time: 5 mins

Low-equity unit trusts provide cautious protection against a falling market. Martine Damonse, investment specialist in the ManCo Distribution team, discusses...

Insights categories - Local investing

Investment update: How to invest in a changing world

By Duncan Artus on 01 Dec 2022

Viewing time: 27 Mins

At Allan Gray we are bottom-up investors, but we want to be on the right side of long-term trends, particularly at secular turning points. During the recent...

Insights categories - Local investing

How to invest in an inflationary, energy-short and increasingly divided world

By Duncan Artus on 06 Oct 2022

Reading time: 6 mins

At Allan Gray, we are bottom-up investors, but we want to be on the right side of long-term trends, particularly at secular turning points. One way is to...

Insights categories - Investment insights

How to invest to be crisis ready

By Stephan Bernard on 01 Apr 2022

Reading time: 6 mins

COVID-19 has driven home an important life lesson: Expect (and plan for) the unexpected. When it comes to your finances, this means balancing the need to hav...

Insights categories - Local investing

Interrogating the opportunity in South Africa

By Tim Acker on 17 Feb 2022

Viewing time: 1 min

Market dislocations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic have presented attractive opportunities for investors. The JSE is a good case in point. Presenting...

Insights categories - Local investing

Preparing for more uncertainty and volatility

By Duncan Artus on 31 Jan 2022

Reading time: 10 mins

A look back over the last two years reveals how difficult forecasting is. Even with perfect foresight of the pandemic context, one would not have been able t...

Insights categories - Offshore investing

Orbis: Taming turbulence

By Neha Aggarwal on 09 Dec 2021

Viewing time: 1 min

Turbulence. It’s a word that can strike fear into the heart of even the most seasoned air traveller and even a little of it has been known to put people off...

Insights categories - Local investing

Market update: Weighing up opportunity and risk in the face of volatility

By Duncan Artus on 23 Aug 2021

Listening time: 25 mins

While the local market has been strong, South African assets still look cheap overall compared to many of their global counterparts. There is opportunity in...

Insights categories - Local investing

Investment update: Is it time to reduce SA share exposure?

By Tim Acker on 09 Jul 2021

Viewing time: 1 min

The FTSE/JSE All Share Index (ALSI) is now significantly higher than it was before the pandemic – 21% up from the start of 2020. Is this a sign that it is ti...

Insights category - companies

Woolworths: Not so down under

By Jithen Pillay on 22 Apr 2021

Reading time: 7 mins

Most of you will be more than familiar with the fashion, beauty, home and food offering of retailer Woolworths, affectionately referred to as Woolies, and on...

Insights categories - Offshore investing

Orbis: The great imbalance

By Ashley Lynn on 13 Apr 2021

Viewing time: 1 min

At its heart investing is a balancing act. Balancing how much you stand to gain if things go well, with how much you could lose if things don't work out. Now...

Insights categories - Local investing

Allan Gray Stable Fund turns 20

By Sean Munsie and Duncan Artus on 01 Sep 2020

Reading time: 7 mins

Over the last two decades, the Allan Gray Stable Fund has built a solid track record through dynamic asset allocation, bottom-up stock-picking and mindful ri...

Insights categories - Investment insights

Part 4: How to invest to be crisis ready

By Stephan Bernard on 09 Jun 2020

Reading time: 7 mins

COVID-19 has driven home an important life lesson: Expect (and plan for) the unexpected. When it comes to your finances, this means balancing the need to hav...

Insights categories - Markets and economy

Q&A with Allan Gray and Orbis: Investing beyond COVID-19

By Tamryn Lamb on 26 May 2020

Reading time: 1 min

While financial market volatility as a result of COVID-19 is expected to continue over the short term, the investment teams at Allan Gray and Orbis are focus...

Insights categories - Local investing

Investing during lockdown and beyond

By Duncan Artus on 25 May 2020

Reading time: 4 mins

Sometimes in investing, the best thing to do is nothing. In a presentation to advisers and clients via Zoom webinar, Duncan Artus examined the levels and...

Insights categories - Local investing

Perspectives and portfolio positioning amid COVID-19

By Andrew Lapping on 08 May 2020

Reading time: 6 mins

The world as we know it has changed dramatically over the last two months, with the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown strategies causing extreme volatility on t...

Insights categories - Local investing

Positioning our portfolios for growth beyond COVID-19

By Andrew Lapping on 23 Apr 2020

Reading time: 12 mins

The speed at which the financial market swings from despair to elation is astounding. The past few months have seen no shortage of mood swings as investors...

Insights categories - Offshore investing

Orbis: Turn away from the noise and look to the long term

By Ben Preston on 23 Apr 2020

Reading time: 9 mins

Much has been written about the emotional cycle of fear and greed in investing. Both panic and excessive optimism can create extraordinary opportunities for...

Insights categories - Offshore investing

Orbis: Performance and positioning during COVID-19

By Radhesen Naidoo on 17 Apr 2020

Reading time: 9 mins

There has been little else to talk about as COVID-19 dominates world headlines. Globally, everyone is trying to evaluate the real impact the pandemic will ha...

Insights categories - Markets and economy

COVID-19: Looking to history to understand potential outcomes

By Stephan Bernard on 09 Apr 2020

Reading time: 7 mins

With much of the world in lockdown, one wonders whether it is appropriate to draw on past analogies in thinking about what lies ahead. However, every prior...

Insights categories - Markets and economy

COVID-19: Q&A with Allan Gray portfolio managers

By Tamryn Lamb on 08 Apr 2020

Viewing time: 6 mins

With many countries in lockdown, uncertainty prevails. Against this backdrop, many clients are asking for our views on the economic impact, an update on our...

Insights categories - Markets and economy

COVID-19: Evaluating market risk versus opportunity

By Duncan Artus on 25 Mar 2020

Viewing time: 1 min

We have managed our portfolios through a range of different crises since 1974. Over the last 20 years, the dotcom collapse in 2001/02, the global financial...

Insights categories - Markets and economy

Coronavirus: Taking stock of the state of the markets

By Andrew Lapping on 19 Mar 2020

Reading time: 10 mins

The world is changing extremely fast. The global business shutdown is unlike anything seen outside wartime. It is impossible to know the length or depth of t...

Insights categories - Local investing

How to invest in challenging times

By Ruan Stander on 22 Jan 2020

Reading time: 4 mins

A braai over the weekend inevitably reminds us of the significant challenges our country faces – there is lots of negative news to talk about.

Insights category - companies

Reflecting on our top equity holdings

By Leonard Krüger on 28 Oct 2019

Reading time: 8 mins

The performance of the Allan Gray Equity, Balanced and Stable funds has been disappointing over the past couple of years. Low single-digit returns from...

Insights categories - Offshore investing

Q&A: Understanding Orbis’ performance and potential

By Duncan Artus and Edward Blain on 28 Oct 2019

Reading time: 11 mins

Market breadth has been very narrow offshore, with few winners and many losers. Among the losers have been emerging markets and select cyclicals. At the same...

Insights categories - Markets and economy

Broadened horizons, local learnings

By Nick Ndiritu and Leonard Krüger on 22 Oct 2019

Reading time: 7 mins

Leonard Krüger and Nick Ndiritu look at how we have tailored our investment philosophy and process to invest in Frontier Africa markets. They discuss lessons...

Insights categories - Markets and economy

South African investors need to fall out of love with equities

By Kevin Lings on 30 Jul 2019

Reading time: 6 mins

South Africa’s equity market capitalisation equates to more than 200% of the country’s GDP, the highest proportion in the world and a level that is simply no...

Insights categories - Local investing

Is it time for equity investors to party like it’s 2002?

By Duncan Artus on 30 Jul 2019

Reading time: 4 mins

Not quite, says Duncan Artus.

Insights categories - Local investing

Valuations matter

By Andrew Lapping on 11 Jun 2019

Reading time: 12 mins

Uncertainty abounds at present. Equity returns for the past few years have been underwhelming, political upheaval locally and internationally is causing wave...

Insights categories - Local investing

Balanced Fund update: An improved opportunity set

By Andrew Lapping on 03 May 2019

Reading time: 4 mins

The poor sentiment towards equity markets at the end of 2018 reversed sharply in the first quarter of 2019, with the JSE appreciating 8% and the MSCI World...

Insights categories - Offshore investing

Orbis: Hunting for value

By Alec Cutler on 29 Apr 2019

Reading time: 10 mins

Buying cheap stocks and selling them for a profit sounds like a reasonable way to make money. But there’s a bit more to it when it comes to the way we invest...

Insights categories - Local investing

The dash for cash

By Duncan Artus and Nathan Wridgway on 28 Feb 2019

Reading time: 4 mins

The end of the calendar year often leads to reflection on how one’s investments have performed. Many savers are questioning the wisdom of investing in South...

Insights categories - ESG

Steinhoff class action

By Rob Formby on 28 Sep 2018

Reading time: 1 min

Allan Gray, along with other South African institutions, is participating in a class action case being run in the Netherlands by Dutch law firm BarentsKrans ...

Insights categories - Investment insights

How to spot investment red flags

By Duncan Artus on 03 Aug 2018

Reading time: 5 mins

South Africa has been rocked by a series of corporate scandals in recent years that have sent the share prices of former blue-chip companies like Steinhoff a...

Insights categories - Markets and economy

Invest in stocks with dividends, but put stop losses in place

By Todd Buchholz on 01 Sep 2017

Reading time: 3 mins

It is always a good time to invest, the question is where...

Insights categories - Markets and economy

Valuation of Nigerian and Zimbabwean holdings in the Allan Gray Africa ex-SA Equity Fund

By Nick Ndiritu on 12 May 2017

Reading time: 4 mins

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has established a new foreign exchange (FX) platform for investors and exporters, effective 24 April 2017. The exchange...

Insights categories - Markets and economy

Tough times for African equities

By Andrew Lapping on 03 Feb 2017

Reading time: 4 mins

Most African equity markets had a difficult 2016, generating negative dollar returns. The worst performers were Egypt and Nigeria, which fell 47% and 41%...

Insights category - companies

An investment case for Life Healthcare

By Ruan Stander on 31 Dec 2016

Reading time: 8 mins

Recent news about private hospital operator Life Healthcare’s international investments has created negative sentiment about the company’s ability to allocat...

Insights categories - Offshore investing

Global perspective: Do value shares deserve to be this cheap?

By Alec Cutler on 31 Dec 2016

Reading time: 7 mins

The Orbis Global Balanced Fund aims to balance capital appreciation and income generation with the associated risk of its investments. These objectives...

Insights categories - Investment insights

What to focus on when choosing shares and other assets

By Duncan Artus on 18 Nov 2016

Listening time: 15 mins

How do you distinguish a good investment from a lemon? And how do you create a well-diversified portfolio? Listen to this 15-minute interview on PowerFM...

Insights categories - Local investing

Annual report from the outgoing Chief Investment Officer

By Ian Liddle on 01 Mar 2016

Reading time: 5 mins

Adapted from the Chief Investment Officer’s comments, which will appear in the Allan Gray Unit Trust Annual Report, 2015. These are Ian Liddle’s final Annual...

Insights categories - Offshore investing

Contrarian investing and different performance

By Mahesh Cooper on 30 Sep 2015

Reading time: 8 mins

The valuation-based approach to investing used by Allan Gray and our offshore partner Orbis is often contrarian since the shares that are most attractively...

Insights categories - Offshore investing

Valuation dispersion and opportunities to beat the market in Australia

By Julian Morrison and Werner du Preez on 30 Sep 2015

Reading time: 9 mins

Cyclicality and dispersion in valuations can create great opportunities to buy shares at very attractive prices in companies that are out of favour with the...

Insights categories - Investment insights

SA mining and the sunk cost fallacy

By Ian Liddle on 30 Sep 2015

Reading time: 10 mins

Ian Liddle discusses why the challenges in South African mining provide an interesting case study of the 'sunk cost fallacy', a behavioural bias that sees us...

Insights categories - Offshore investing

A tale of two crises

By Tamryn Lamb on 24 Aug 2015

Reading time: 8 mins

Greece and China have dominated financial headlines since March. With fear running high, we try to remain focused on the relationship between the price and...

Insights categories - Investment insights

What is a PE ratio?

By Wanita Isaacs on 30 Jun 2015

Reading time: 4 mins

Central to our investment philosophy at Allan Gray is buying shares that the market has priced below what we believe they are worth. We then sell these share...

Insights categories - Investment insights

The upside to downside protection

By Shaun Duddy on 30 Jun 2015

Reading time: 10 mins

Warren Buffet famously said that there are two rules when investing, 'Rule No.1: Never lose money, Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1.' Shaun Duddy discusses...

Insights category - companies

Manufacturing in meltdown

By Simon Raubenheimer on 30 Jun 2015

Reading time: 13 mins

The manufacturing sector is currently in a woeful state. Simon Raubenheimer discusses why we are where we are. 'The Board of Directors has taken the decision...

Insights category - companies

The sentiment pendulum

By Andrew Lapping on 01 Apr 2015

Reading time: 4 mins

Investor sentiment is a delicate thing, which changes with surprising rapidity. Kenyan banks… Three years ago Kenya and the Kenyan banks were very out of...

Insights categories - Markets and economy

What do low global bond yields mean for South African investors?

By Ian Liddle on 28 Jan 2015

Reading time: 5 mins

Adapted from the Chief Investment Officer’s comments, which will appear in the Allan Gray Unit Trust Annual Report, 2014. More than half of global government...

Insights category - companies

Building confidence in construction

By Rory Kutisker-Jacobson on 31 Dec 2014

Reading time: 12 mins

'Success in investing is not a question of what you buy, it is a question of what you pay.' Howard Marks Buying above-average companies at average or hopeful...

Insights category - companies

Changing the odds

By Duncan Artus on 30 Sep 2014

Reading time: 6 mins

Sun International, South Africa's second largest casino and resort operator, is undergoing significant change after a number of years of underperformance....

Insights categories - Retirement

How to ensure your retirement income goes the distance

By Michael Summerton on 30 Jun 2014

Reading time: 9 mins

It is only a number of years into retirement that the consequences of decisions made early on begin to show. If you are nearing retirement , or you are in...

Insights category - companies

Astral Foods: Unappreciated Quality

By Leonard Krüger on 30 Jun 2014

Reading time: 5 mins

Good quality companies at decent prices are hard to come by these days on the local market. Leonard Krüger explains the investment case for Astral Foods.

Insights category - companies

Diamonds in the rough

By Leonard Krüger, Ian Liddle, Birte Schneider, Victor Seanie and Ruan Stander on 31 Mar 2014

Reading time: 10 mins

Small- and mid-cap companies make up 16% of the FTSE/JSE All Share Index, but 25-30% of our clients' South African equity holdings. Although many of these...

Insights categories - Markets and economy

Time to review your equity exposure?

By Ian Liddle on 27 Jan 2014

Reading time: 7 mins

Adapted from the Chief Investment Officer’s comments, which will appear in the Allan Gray Unit Trust Annual Report, 2013. We aim to grow our clients’ wealth...

Insights category - companies

Gold and platinum mines: 'Eating sardines' or 'trading sardines'?

By Ian Liddle on 31 Dec 2013

Reading time: 12 mins

"There is the old story about the market craze in sardine trading when the sardines disappeared from their traditional waters in Monterey, California. The...

Insights categories - Markets and economy

A simple checklist for domestic asset allocation

By Duncan Artus on 07 Aug 2013

Reading time: 5 mins

I recently read the fascinating book ‘The Success Equation: Untangling luck in Business, Sports and Investing’1, which explores, how much of one’s success or...

Insights categories - Local investing

Message from our Top 10 equity holdings

By Simon Raubenheimer on 26 Nov 2012

Reading time: 5 mins

Investors frequently ask us whether or not our choice of shares reveals a particular theme or ‘story’. Investors are also curious as to how we alter our...

Insights categories - Offshore investing

Investing: a history of bubbles

By Jonathan Brodie on 30 Jun 2012

Reading time: 9 mins

'Invest in stocks? Forget about it.' - USA Today headline, 8 May 2012. As contrarian investors, we cannot help but take notice when one of the most widely re...

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