Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories #80: Taming the herd – how to navigate bubbles, biases and big market moves
Kingsley Williams is the Chief Investment Officer at Satrix, which means he has built his career around being a student of the markets. He started working right before the dot com bubble, so Kingsley has seen exactly what happens when you have herd mentality in the markets.
Bubbles. Biases. Big market moves and the way they make people behave - it's all here in this great conversation around how to stay sane in a market that is driven by emotion, and one of the most dangerous human traits of all: greed.
Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories #79: Fintech meets frontier markets – now on the JSE
Optasia is listing on the JSE, which means that South African investors will have the opportunity to invest in this exciting fintech business. With a proprietary platform and extensive relationships across numerous emerging and frontier markets, Optasia builds bridges between financial institutions and traditionally unbanked consumers seeking airtime credit and microfinance solutions. To explain how the business works, Salvador Anglada (CEO, Optasia) joined me for this detailed discussion.
Sponsored
The Ascent of Alternative Lending: Navigating the Private Credit Market in South Africa
The expansion of private credit is not a cyclical phenomenon, but a structural shift driven by an evolving and more sophisticated investor universe couple with a cost sensitive issuer base. While the inherent challenges of illiquidity, complexity, and valuation opacity remain central to the asset class, the South African market presents compelling opportunities for institutional investors who possess the local expertise to navigate its complexities. Intengo Market showcases the private credit phenomenon.
Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories #78: Buying a house? Buy smarter with data
We all need somewhere to live, but that doesn't mean that buying property should be the default decision. Most of all, it doesn't mean that buying any property at any price is sensible. Data-led decision making is crucial when buying a home, especially in South Africa where house prices don't automatically go up. Hayley Ivins-Downes of Lightstone Property joined me to discuss the facts around property values and trends in South Africa.
Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories #77: What AI means for real-world business – and for your job
AI has dominated the headlines this year and is the cause of seemingly bottomless investment in markets like the US. This is technology theatre at its finest, accompanied by flashy presentations and even flashier share prices at the world's biggest tech companies. But what impact is it actually having on the corporates on the ground who are the eventual users of the service? And what does it mean for jobs? Shane Cooper of Forvis Mazars in South Africa joined me to unpack these topics.
Podcasts
PODCAST: No Ordinary Wednesday Ep112 | IMF Special – Signals from Washington
In this special IMF edition of No Ordinary Wednesday, Cumesh Moodliar, CEO of Investec South Africa, and Ruth Leas, CEO of Investec UK, unpack the signals from this year’s meetings in Washington – from the “three Ts” shaping investor sentiment (Trump, technology and tariffs) to the cautious optimism surrounding South Africa’s reform momentum.
Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories #76: How private cloud prepares you for a rainy day
Steve Porter gets out of bed every day to make sure that the clients of Metrofile Cloud can keep their businesses running when disaster strikes. In a world of public cloud offerings with all the bells and whistles, Metrofile Cloud's private cloud business takes a no-nonsense approach to delivering cloud services to South African businesses of all sizes - and with a real person on the other end of the phone when you need help. In this podcast, he explains how private cloud differs to public cloud.
Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories #75: A structured approach to global equity exposure
We know that global equities have outperformed global bonds and money market investments over the long term, but this comes with the risk of higher volatility. With a track record in structured products spanning 23 years, Investec has seen practically every type of market cycle play out. Japie Lubbe brings his extensive experience to this discussion, explaining the approach to structured global equity exposure taken by Advanced Investment Holdings in the current environment.
Capitec
The Finance Ghost Plugged in with Capitec: Ep 4 (A dose of inspiration with The Local Choice Pharmacy)
Hugh Cunningham is as passionate about customer service and product assortment as he is about medicine. As the co-owner of The Local Choice Pharmacy Harmelia, Hugh focuses on business management, while his wife and co-founder Yolandi ensures the dispensary runs smoothly. On episode 4 of The Finance Ghost Plugged in with Capitec, Hugh shares excellent insights on specialist retail and how pharmacies really work.
Podcasts
PODCAST: No Ordinary Wednesday Ep110 | US priced for perfection
The US market is trading ~40% above fair value. What could cause those lofty valuations to deflate? This week on No Ordinary Wednesday, Chris Holdsworth, Chief Investment Strategist at Investec Wealth & Investment International, unpacks the key findings of Investec’s latest Global Investment View, highlighting risks for global investors and where opportunities lie outside the US.
Satrix
Why South Africa Is Becoming A Digital Investing Powerhouse
South Africa is rapidly emerging as a digital investing leader, driven by mobile-first platforms, financial inclusion efforts, and a tech-savvy population. Duma Mxenge of Satrix explains why this is happening and why it matters.
