Andrew Lapping
Articles by Andrew Lapping
Perspectives and portfolio positioning amid COVID-19
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...
Opinion: Counting the economic cost of South Africa’s lockdown
As South Africans, we want our country to prosper and the quality of life for all those living within our borders to improve. Millions live in total poverty...
Positioning our portfolios for growth beyond COVID-19
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...
Stewardship and Business Sustainability Reports
This is the fifth year that we have published our Stewardship Report, which outlines how we integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into...
Coronavirus: Taking stock of the state of the markets
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...
Making sense of current market conditions
The current market volatility is understandably causing investors much stress. Andrew Lapping examines the impact of coronavirus and the drop of the oil pric...
In pursuit of undervalued assets
The South African equity market returned 12% in 2019, after being saved at the death by December’s 3.3% return. However, this pales in comparison to the 28%...
How to construct a portfolio for a range of outcomes
The future is extremely uncertain. This isn’t because of any particular global situation; it is always the case. This is why it is important that we build...
Valuations matter
Uncertainty abounds at present. Equity returns for the past few years have been underwhelming, political upheaval locally and internationally is causing wave...
Balanced Fund update: An improved opportunity set
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...
The upside of down markets
2018 was not a good year for investors with price declines in many asset classes. The FTSE/JSE All Share Index (ALSI) fell 8.5% in 2018, or 21% when measured...
Understanding recent performance
2018 was a difficult year for investors with most asset classes falling in price. The prices of all assets are volatile; the only asset to seemingly lack...
How to thrive in choppy markets
This year has been characterised by increased volatility and concern about the global risks – from trade disputes to inflation. After a strong start to the...
Ride out volatility and maximise returns
Market fluctuations are an expected and necessary part of investing. While market volatility often presents good opportunities for value investors like Allan...
How Allan Gray values a stock
Allan Gray is a strong proponent of value investing, the mantra famously championed by Warren Buffet. Put simply, value investing is the concept of buying...
Do you enjoy pain? How about the platinum industry?
Over the past two years we have invested in certain platinum mining companies. These investments have performed extremely poorly. Andrew Lapping looks back a...
Finding opportunity in the volatility
The first quarter proved to be a difficult one with the Allan Gray Equity, Balanced and Stable Funds all delivering negative returns. The most significant...
Investment lessons from 2017: be patient and trust your analysis
Separating oneself from the noise is tricky. There is an enormous amount of information out there; you can listen to experts on television, read newspapers,...
How has your investment been impacted by the fall in the price of Steinhoff?
Global retailer Steinhoff International Holdings NV’s share price had fallen 86.9% by close of trade on Friday 8 December, following CEO Markus Jooste’s...
Woolworths: Value investing in action
It can be difficult for investors to choose an investment manager when many of us seem to sound and look the same. Using Woolworths as an example, Andrew...
Is now the time to invest?
Is it time to put your money under the mattress or is it time to invest? Watch this 7-min clip with Andrew Lapping, our chief investment officer, and Todd...
How to be a discerning investor
Negative sentiment and lower expectations for future growth are sending investors scurrying...
SNAPSHOT: Allan Gray Equity Fund
The Allan Gray Equity Fund is for investors who are looking to create long-term wealth by investing in shares: historically equities have been the best way t...
Allan Gray condemns Net1 CEO severance payment
Allan Gray notes with outrage the financial settlement claimed by Serge Belamant upon his retirement as CEO of Net1. We are very surprised that Mr Belamant...
Net1 announces Serge Belamant’s retirement
Net1 has announced that Serge Belamant will retire as chief executive officer (CEO) and director of the company at the end of this month and Herman Kotzé,...
Nigeria: Finding opportunities where others fear to tread
Wow, that valuation changed quickly! A few years ago investors were very excited about investing in Africa outside of South Africa. People spoke of Africa...
Net1: Do the right thing
We are very concerned about the situation surrounding Net1 – both the immediate need to ensure that 17 million beneficiaries receive their payments on time a...
Tough times for African equities
Most African equity markets had a difficult 2016, generating negative dollar returns. The worst performers were Egypt and Nigeria, which fell 47% and 41%...
Keep calm and carry on investing
The past 12 months seem to have passed particularly swiftly, maybe because fundamentally very little changed. Interestingly, the light in which investors vie...
Stable Fund update: An uneventful quarter
After the volatility of the previous 12 months, the quarter to the end of September was surprisingly peaceful, with generally muted asset class returns. The...
How to think about the rand when making investment decisions
Over the last few years we have been concerned about the strength of the rand and our portfolios have been positioned for currency weakness. One of our...
Africa ex-SA Equity Fund: Finding value in Nigeria
The first quarter of the year was particularly volatile. The Africa ex-SA Equity Fund closed unchanged for the quarter, masking substantial intra-quarter mov...
How things change
Global mining businesses have had a remarkable fall from grace over the past 18 months. Talk has moved from a 20-year supercycle and commodity shortages to...
The sentiment pendulum
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...
The Allan Gray Bond Fund: What's in store for the next 10 years?
We launched the Allan Gray Bond Fund 10 years ago, this month. Ten years passes quickly. The most surprising thing about the period has been the lack of...
The impact of events relating to African Bank on Allan Gray Unit Trusts
African Bank’s failure has had a small, negative impact on our Allan Gray Equity, Balanced and Stable Funds. In this GrayIssue we attempt to address a broad...
Understanding the risk of loss in Africa ex-SA
A small percentage of the foreign component of our Balanced and Stable Funds is invested in Africa and investors looking for greater exposure to the region c...
The Allan Gray Africa Equity Fund celebrates 15 years
When the Allan Gray Africa Equity Fund (the Fund) was launched on 1 July 1998 it was the first unitised product in which Allan Gray Proprietary Limited was...
It is the price you pay that counts, not the headlines
People enjoy stories; they are fun. This is true in all facets of life, including investing. Investors often have stories to tell about individual equities,...
The long-term outlook for the South African bond market
As a bond investor you need to ask yourself two questions: are your inflation expectations reasonable, and will the potential real return be sufficient? Andr...
Why Sasol is our preferred resource share
Sasol's share price has fared poorly over the past year compared to the 28% appreciation of the FTSE/JSE All Share Index (ALSI). Going forward, Sasol will be...
