Autus CEO, Dominic Ilett, share insights into what has dominated the economic narrative this past quarter.
According to Google, at the time of writing, there were 743m searches for the word ‘inflation’, 316m for ‘recession’, and 160m for ‘soft-landing’. These numbers indicate how top-of-mind these indicators are and how they have dominated the economic narrative this past quarter. The South African economy performed better than expected so far this year with real GDP growing by a seasonally adjusted 1,9% quarter-on-quarter in Q1 2022, up from 1,4% in Q4 2022. This increase was driven by continued gro [...]
How do banks benefit from rising interest rates?
By Francois Roux, CFALow interest rates and negligible inflation rates have been a normal feature of market conditions for the better part of the past decade and a half. This changed in the wake of the Coronavirus crisis after governments and central banks around the world introduced extraordinary stimulus measures to revive struggling economies. The effects of these fiscal and monetary stimulus measures, along with severe supply chain disruptions, have reignited inflation rates in developed eco [...]
A Global Response to Conflict: Increased Military Spending
By Francois Roux, CFA On the 24th of February 2022, a geopolitical seismic shift occurred when President Vladimir Putin of Russia ordered his troops to invade Ukraine. Conventional war between nation-states had returned to the European continent for the first time since the devastation of the world wars of the 20th century. Tension in the region had been brewing since Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in 2014, accompanied by an uprising by Russian-backed separatists in the [...]
The evolution of e-commerce
At the start of the internet era, the action of purchasing products online was often accompanied by the vision of a shady character ready to steal your credit card information. However, this image has changed in recent years, and e-commerce has become an entirely acceptable part of the buying process for the vast majority of consumers. Over the past two decades, e-commerce has entirely revolutionised the retail industry. E-commerce was only a pipe dream a few generations ago, and now it's one o [...]
Online shopping and its sway on Tech-related REITs
You might find yourself sitting on the couch browsing Superbalist's sale section and eventually buying those shoes that have been on your wish list for months. This minor act triggers a series of events that impact several industries, including the property sector.With the emergence of the COVID-19 virus and its safety regulations, individuals were bound to their homes and encouraged to practice social distancing. This largely benefitted e-commerce and the real estate investment trusts (REITs) t [...]
Team Talk – Autus Quarterly Commentary
Autus CEO, Dominic Ilett, share insights on global and domestic macro factors in our final quarterly review of 2021. The final quarter of 2021 provided a mixed bag of positive factors to celebrate as well as opposing negatives that continue to cause concern. A standout feature was the peaceful, free, and fair municipal elections held in November. Our maturing democracy is a model to many developed and emerging countries around the world. With the support for the ruling ANC declining, the future [...]
Facebook changes its name to Meta in major rebrand.
By Francois Roux, CFA, Portfolio Manager - Autus Fund Managers In March 2014, Facebook paid $2 billion to buy a company most of its users have never heard of: Oculus VR, Inc. Oculus is a leading producer of virtual reality (VR) headsets. The acquisition revealed an important clue about the future vision of CEO Mark Zuckerberg for the social media company he had started in his Harvard dorm room in 2004. Seven years after the acquisition of Oculus, Facebook made a much bolder announcement. A new [...]
Team Talk – Autus Quarterly Commentary
Autus CEO, Dominic Ilett, share insights on global and domestic macro factors in our quarterly review. The impact of political, social, and economic macro factors exerted greater influence on markets than micro factors over the quarter. Locally, the July civil unrest and blatant looting of shops, factories, and trucks in KZN and Gauteng highlighted the existing fragility where high unemployment and hardship experienced by a majority of the population is combined with disingenuous political force [...]
Semiconductors And The Auto Chip Shortage
Introduction Semiconductors make the world go around. Without it, you would not be able to read this article, drive to work tomorrow morning, or even heat your food in your microwave oven. Also known as integrated circuits, silicon chips, microchips, or simply chips, they are the brains behind every electronic component we use in our daily lives. Some chips like the central processing unit in your phone are highly complex and require sophisticated design and manufacturing capabilities to produc [...]
GPS: Mercado Libre
We refer to our team as pilots because we take the responsibility of transporting our investors, determining the safest routes, analysing plans and carefully calculating navigation and direction. In our journey to constantly find investment solutions to meet the specified investment goals for each investor, we direct our GPS toward MercadoLibre. MercadoLibre is the largest e-commerce marketplace and payment platform in Latin America, essential role in return for the Autus Global Equity Fund. Me [...]
The effect on SA Investments: China’s corporate crackdown
The effect of China’s corporate crackdown on South African investments “This is a show of force from the Chinese government, saying, ‘We’re going to reel in these tech giants and their unruly behaviour,’” says Prof. Michael Sung, founding co-director of the Fudan Fanhai Fintech Research Center at Shanghai’s Fudan University. “Because now they’re big enough to have systemic risk.” The crackdown poses a threat to the way that China's tech sector has historically enlarged itself and has potentially [...]
The week that was…
As Covid19 and the effects of adjusted level 4 continue to take their toll on South Africa, no one imagined that we would face extensive economic destruction caused by violence and looting in some of the financial hubs of the country. The government has spent a few years fighting for foreign investment to reduce the unemployment rate and hike the economic growth, only for the effort to be burned down by the lawlessness on the ground. While foreign investors are likely to sit on the sidelines to [...]
How level 4 lockdown impacts your investments?
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that South Africa will be entering an adjusted level 4 lockdown on 28 June due to a dramatic rise in cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19 infections. The lockdown is set to be in force for two weeks, but this could be extended when the government re-evaluates the situation on 11 July. Now, you may wonder how these developments impact your investments. Local Economy The most direct casualties of the latest lockdown are businesses operating in the hospitality [...]
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