Local investing
We offer a small range of unit trusts that we believe meets the needs of most investors. Here we offer details about the characteristics of and investment choices within these unit trusts, as well as some insights into unit trust investments in general.
Articles in "Local investing"
Finding value in a depressed earnings environment
After a disappointing decade, many are wondering whether the JSE still offers long-term value for patient investors. Rory Kutisker-Jacobson discusses the...
2024: What will the election year hold?
From macroeconomic decisions to political outcomes, markets – and sentiment – can be temporarily influenced by various external factors. If 2023 will be...
The key lesson from 2023: Uncertainty is ever-present
Rory Kutisker-Jacobson takes stock of the key local and global market events of 2023 and highlights some of the themes that are likely to shape the year ahea...
50 years of investing in an evolving ecosystem
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...
Local investment update: Balancing caution and optimism
In recent years, South Africa’s numerous, well-known economic challenges have fuelled declining investor sentiment and led many to doubt the local market’s...
Lessons from the winners and losers of the last five years
In conversation with investment analyst Siphesihle Zwane, portfolio manager Jacques Plaut and investment analyst Pieter Koornhof discuss some of the notable...
The equity core that powers our business
As we celebrate our 50th anniversary this year, we naturally reflect on the history of the firm and the important milestones we reached along the way. Nick...
Are low-equity funds relevant in today’s investment universe?
Low-equity unit trusts provide cautious protection against a falling market. Martine Damonse, investment specialist in the ManCo Distribution team, discusses...
Equities matter – even for a cautious investor
In recent years, we have witnessed investors on our platform moving their assets away from low-equity funds to funds that have little to no equity exposure...
Why South Africa is still attractive for investors
In conversation with portfolio manager Tim Acker, investment analysts Siphesihle Zwane and Jithen Pillay discuss the impact of the major local challenges on...
The evolving role of balanced funds
Tamryn Lamb looks at the important role balanced funds have played in your portfolio over time, the returns they have generated and the variability of these...
Was 2022 a secular turning point and if so, what does it mean for the years ahead?
In his first investment update of 2023, Duncan Artus discusses the current investment context and how it differs from the past, shares a review of 2022 and...
Do local banks offer value in an inflationary world?
In the current period of high global inflation and slowing economic activity, how will the local banking sector fare? Are there still long-term opportunities...
Business update: The role of balanced funds
This year has seen a number of meaningful changes for investors, including the introduction of higher offshore limits. At the recent Allan Gray and Orbis...
Investment update: How to invest in a changing world
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...
Q&A: Allan Gray and Orbis investment update
After an eventful year, many investors are feeling uncertain about how to position their portfolios to fare well in 2023. At the recent Allan Gray and Orbis...
How to invest in an inflationary, energy-short and increasingly divided world
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...
Local investment update: Always pay the right price
Jacques Plaut and Duncan Artus discuss the positioning of our equity and multi-asset funds given the pre-existing trends exacerbated by the war in Ukraine....
Interrogating the opportunity in South Africa
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...
Preparing for more uncertainty and volatility
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...
How to invest for the possibility of higher inflation and interest rates
The probability that the world is moving into an environment of higher inflation is increasing. An inflationary environment requires investors to think...
Q&A with Allan Gray portfolio managers
At a recent Allan Gray local investment update, chief investment officer, Duncan Artus, facilitated a robust discussion with portfolio managers, Thalia...
It’s the price you pay that matters
As investors we shouldn’t pretend we operate in a vacuum that is nicely insulated from the prevailing macroeconomic and political trends. However, it is...
Active management: Potential for a comeback in a divided inflationary world
For most of the 2000s, the developed world has been characterised by disinflation and falling interest rates. This is despite a large increase in leverage, t...
Market update: Weighing up opportunity and risk in the face of volatility
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...
Our take on the “shrinking” JSE
Several high-profile delistings over the recent past have spurred market commentators to discuss the JSE’s “slow death” in the context of a struggling local...
How we approach fixed interest
Aside from our dedicated local fixed interest funds, being the Allan Gray Money Market Fund and the Allan Gray Bond Fund, we also invest in fixed interest...
Investment update: Is it time to reduce SA share exposure?
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...
Sitting at the bottom of the interest rate cycle, potentially for much longer
The South African Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted in May 2021 to again keep the repo rate unchanged at 3.5%, its lowest level since the...
Where to from here for interest rates and money market returns?
Lower interest rates, although a life jacket for those in debt or with home loans, have negative consequences for savers.
Equity Fund: Fishing in muddy waters
In his 1986 letter to shareholders, Warren Buffett famously spoke of being fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.
Balanced Fund: Optionality, the most unappreciated asset
One of the most unappreciated assets in a portfolio is optionality – the ability to take advantage of market disparity and to move between and within asset...
Balanced Fund: Perspectives and positioning
In a recent webinar, Portfolio Manager Tim Acker discussed the investment environment and looked at how the Allan Gray Balanced Fund is positioned to take...
Investment update: Taking advantage of disparities in the market
One of the key preconditions for successful active management is the level of disparity in the markets. Duncan Artus discusses this in our first video and...
Balancing risk and opportunity
When it comes to investing, the single most important variable is the price you pay. Sentiment can drive valuations to extremes, and even great companies can...
Easy monetary policy to remain a feature for the foreseeable future
When picking investments for a bond fund, it is important to consider what is going on in the economy, particularly GDP growth, the inflation trajectory and...
Anaemic rate environment for money market funds
We have undoubtedly entered a difficult period for money market funds, with the overnight repo rate at its lowest in South Africa’s history. Meanwhile, other...
The Stable Fund at 20
With an allocation to assets such as equities being key to long-term growth, even for more conservative investors, we believe the Allan Gray Stable Fund...
Prospects look promising
Disappointing short-term performance has had a dampening effect on longer-term numbers. Looking at similar periods in our history provides useful context and...
Allan Gray Stable Fund turns 20
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...
Equity Fund update: In pursuit of potential
The most important determinant of investment success is the price you pay for an asset, and valuations for many quality companies are the cheapest they have...
Equity Fund update: Investing amid extreme price moves
The second quarter of 2020 saw further extreme moves in equities. An intraday price move of 20% is a rare event, especially for a large company. In the month...
Do South African banks offer value in a COVID-19 battered world?
As South African banks re-evaluate their models to deal with the potential implications of the coronavirus pandemic and take proactive steps to minimise the...
Do bonds offer opportunity in a post COVID-19 world?
As investors we must think about what the world will look like when the pandemic has passed, and what asset classes offer opportunity. Presenting via Zoom...
Investing during lockdown and beyond
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...
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...
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...
The end of the free lunch
There is no such thing as a free lunch. Yet recent times have provided South African savers with something close to this, as risk-free returns from money...
Should you invest in bonds?
The recent performance of South African bonds – which have outperformed cash and equities over three and five years – has prompted investors to ask whether...
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 invest in challenging times
A braai over the weekend inevitably reminds us of the significant challenges our country faces – there is lots of negative news to talk about.
Two decades for the Allan Gray Balanced Fund
The Allan Gray Balanced Fund celebrated its 20-year anniversary on 1 October 2019. The local industry looks vastly different today to how it looked two decad...
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...
Negativity can often present opportunity
With doom and gloom pervading locally, and the world economy slowing, you may be feeling like the safest place for your money is under your mattress. This is...
Is it time for equity investors to party like it’s 2002?
Not quite, says Duncan Artus.
Is it 2002 all over again? Not quite
Domestically focused shares that are exposed to the local economy have underperformed the overall market. Duncan Artus investigates whether the current...
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...
Stable Fund: Are we meeting our objectives?
The investment environment over the last few years has been particularly challenging, causing the Stable Fund’s return to be more volatile than it has been...
Is a money market fund right for you right now?
Money market unit trusts have become popular as they appear to provide a safe, secure and reliable haven for your investments. During times with extreme...
The dash for cash
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...
The year of payback
Excess returns from the FTSE/JSE All Share Index (ALSI) relative to cash have disappointed over the last five years, with cash now outperforming, on average....
Equity Fund update: Taking a look at British American Tobacco
2018 was a disappointing year for South African equity investors, with the FTSE/ JSE All Share Index returning -9%. The good news is that based on our resear...
Is it time to invest in listed property?
There is a perception that we do not regard listed property as an attractive investment for our clients. This is not the case. It is, however, true that our...
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...
Is cash king?
It has been a good few years for cash. Over the past three years cash (i.e. highly liquid assets, like money market funds and fixed-interest assets, such as...
Allan Gray Equity Fund's 20th Anniversary
If you had invested R1 000 in the Allan Gray Equity Fund when it was launched on 1 October 1998, it would be worth R56 572 today (at 30 September 2018). A...
Structural challenges to business models
At the core of our investment philosophy we look for companies we believe are priced below our estimate of their true worth and sell them when they reach fai...
Are you overly exposed to China?
As South African investors we are very tuned into the local political and economic risks that we face. But what about the less obvious risks?
Equity Fund update: Focus turns to locally listed international businesses
The market had a volatile first quarter with positive sentiment towards South African equities continuing against a backdrop of volatile international market...
Money Market Fund update: Lower yields suggest lower future money market returns
It has been good to be invested in money market funds over recent years. The Allan Gray Money Market Fund (the Fund) has returned 7.5% per annum over the las...
How are our portfolios positioned to protect and grow our clients' capital?
Regular readers of our commentaries would have noted that we have found an increasing number of attractive opportunities in local equities over the last 18...
Equity Fund update: Reversal of fortunes for domestically orientated sectors
For most of 2017, domestically orientated sectors fared poorly against the FTSE/ JSE All Share Index (ALSI). However, the last few weeks of the year saw a...
Equity Fund update: Patience is key in investing
Despite the high price-to-earnings (PE) ratio of the FTSE/JSE All Share Index (ALSI), our bottom-up investment process is finding attractive opportunities th...
Stable Fund update: Justifying a higher net equity weighting in challenging times
Local inflation and interest rates have peaked in the current cycle and South Africa had its first interest rate cut in five years during the quarter. While...
Balanced Fund update: An increased weighting towards local stocks
The local equity market had a strong quarter, breaking out to new highs despite all the negative news headlines. Many investors forget that the FTSE/JSE All...
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...
If South Africa was a company would you include it in your portfolio?
Sentiment towards South Africa is poor. It is tempting to believe that excessive bad news is priced into South African assets, which should deliver attractiv...
Balanced Fund update: Unloved stocks present buying opportunities
Investor sentiment towards emerging markets remains weak. This has left emerging markets at a valuation discount to developed markets. The MSCI Emerging Mark...
Striking a balance
Where many investors define risk as the volatility of returns, or the risk of looking different, our focus is always on avoiding permanent loss of capital...
How our unit trusts are positioned for the current environment
The net equity exposure of our flagship unit trusts matches our risk appetite in those unit trusts and the asset allocation is managed accordingly...
How to resist the lure of the herd
While humans take comfort in mimicking the behaviour of one another – we would rather be wrong in the company of many...
Stable Fund update: Finding value in SA equities
South Africa has a history of political uncertainty. The 15 months since the removal of Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister in December 2015 have been a stark...
Balanced Fund update: The importance of asset allocation
People often stress the importance of asset allocation. For example, we have heard it said that 90% of returns are directly due to asset allocation. We teste...
South Africa at a political crossroad
The political events of the last 10 days, and the resulting ratings downgrade by S&P Global Ratings, have seriously eroded investor confidence in South Afric...
Raging Bull Awards
The results of the Raging Bull Awards were made public last night. Hosted by Personal Finance in conjunction with partners ProfileData and PlexCrown Fund...
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...
Equity Fund update: Investing in the shade of unnerving political headlines
The year 2016 will be remembered by investors as one in which politics dominated the headlines. But what do we make of it all as investors trying to focus on...
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...
Balanced Fund update: What is a 'high-quality' company?
The Fund’s performance over the past quarter was helped by overweight positions in Standard Bank and Impala Platinum, and by underweight positions in SABMill...
Equity Fund update: Don’t be seduced by high expectations
It is interesting to note the surprise announcements made by several market ‘darlings’ over the course of the third quarter of 2016. Mr Price revealed negati...
Fee transparency delivers value for your money
If you have tried to review your cellphone contract or home internet provider by comparing them to their competitors, only to give up in despair because of t...
Money Market Fund update: Rising inflation and low growth continue to cause concern
Global yields have fallen after Brexit became a reality when the UK voted to leave the EU. This uncertainty has decreased the expectation that the US Federal...
Equity Fund update: Volatility presents opportunity
The economic outlook deteriorated during the second quarter, exacerbated by the British referendum. Although the market’s perception of near-term headwinds m...
Stable Fund update: How to invest in ‘interesting’ times
‘May you live in interesting times' is an English expression which many believe to be a translation of a traditional Chinese curse. The expression seems to...
Restructurings as a source of excess returns
We are always on the lookout for opportunities offered by the potential restructuring of companies. They can often generate attractive returns with a...
Investment platform fees reduced
Our investment platform has grown over the last few years making it possible for us to reduce our administration fees to give clients better value for money.
Annual report from the outgoing Chief Investment Officer
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...
Launching the Allan Gray Tax-Free Balanced Fund
At Allan Gray we aim to keep our product and fund range small, and only introduce new offerings if we believe they will benefit our clients. We are pleased t...
Presenting the Allan Gray Tax-Free Balanced Fund
We are excited to announce the launch of the Allan Gray Tax-Free Balanced Fund. This new unit trust will be managed in broadly the same way as our flagship...
Interim investor update
Some clients have asked for an update on how well their investments are doing in the current very volatile market. It’s risky to respond until things have...
Stable Fund: Safeguarding our clients' capital is our core focus
When we launched the Allan Gray Stable Fund (the Fund) 15 years ago, we hoped that it would provide clients with returns that were competitive with bank...
Proposed changes to the Allan Gray Equity Fund
Since its inception in 1998, the Allan Gray Equity Fund (the Fund) has returned 26% per year (after fees), while the benchmark FTSE/JSE All Share Index (ALSI...
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...
How 'active' is your manager?
Regular readers of our commentaries will know that we follow a valuation-based investment philosophy. At the same time, we are not afraid of investing contra...
Does the size of your unit trust matter?
Back in September 1998, there were 186 unit trusts available in South Africa. Fast-forward 16 years, and there are now 1 477 registered unit trusts in a...
Understand your Stable Fund investment
We have written on many occasions about the role investors play in their investment success. Key to this is understanding your fund's risk profile and...
Analysing your fund's performance
Regular readers of our Quarterly Commentary will know that at Allan Gray we are focused on generating superior returns for our clients over the long term. On...
Rebates versus clean pricing: which structure benefits investors the most?
A key problem in the LISP industry is that fees are complex, and different platforms use different fee structures. Many investors do not understand how much...
Message from our Top 10 equity holdings
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...
Facelift for Allan Gray fund factsheets
We have redesigned our fund factsheets as the first phase of a review of the fund information we provide in all of our documentation and on our website...
Foreign exposure in the Allan Gray Stable Fund
The long-term track record of the Allan Gray Stable Fund shows returns well ahead of its benchmark and satisfactory capital stability. Nevertheless, the Fund...
The Stable Fund completes a decade
The Allan Gray Stable Fund celebrated its 10-year anniversary on 1 July. This is a good time to reflect on how the Fund has performed over its first 10 years...
The Balanced Fund celebrates 10 years
On 1 October 2009 Allan Gray celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the Balanced Fund. Excluding the money market funds, at just over R29bn it is now the...
