When could a multi-manager approach be particularly effective?
It is a well-established statistical result that a collection of unknowns is less variable than any one of its constituents. As more stocks are added to a portfolio, the total return tends towards the weighted average return of all stocks and the volatility of outcomes reduces, eventually reaching that of the market overall. The same...
South African hedge funds: Taking granular approach
Since the outbreak of Covid-19 asset classes have tumbled globally. Modern portfolio theory always dictates that a well-diversified portfolio should have a mix of asset classes that diversify the risk / return profile over time. However, in periods of market shocks and fast-moving markets on the downside we see much more auto correlation between asset...
Understanding private equity valuations in tumultuous times
It feels as if we woke up one morning and the world was different – but when exactly did it change, and what did we know or should have known at any point in time? Investment managers of illiquid assets need to assess when, to what extent, and how they incorporate the impact of Covid-19...
RisCura says YES to a virtual onboarding process
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is pushing employers to reinvent their style of recruitment and investment firm RisCura has accepted this challenge. The firm successfully recruited a second intake of eight Youth Employment Service (YES) programme candidates during the lockdown period. The YES programme is a one-year government initiative geared...
Chinese equities – are investors ignoring the free lunch from diversification?
Each day now brings further news of the spreading coronavirus and its impact on communities and economies. Lockdowns now affect over one third of humanity and we wonder what may come next. Among all this there are occasional positive signs: notably from China. Incremental COVID-19 cases there have declined significantly, with most now imported. People...
African insurance sector a key source of capital for the continent
South Africa has a relatively high insurance penetration rate when compared to its emerging market counterparts and in relation to the sizes of their economies. This emerged following the release of investment firm RisCura’s latest Bright Africa research. Insurance penetration, which comprises life insurance and non-life insurance products, is calculated...
Weathering the coronavirus storm
China has dominated the front pages over recent years – a slowing economy, trade disputes and now viruses. Chinese stock markets had experienced a stellar 2019 with mainland A-shares up by over 35% in US Dollars but this halted abruptly in January as the outbreak of COVID-19 over the Chinese New Year made world headlines....
RisCura launches new Bright Africa investment research
Investment firm RisCura’s 2019 Bright Africa research was released today and provides a broad analysis of the investment landscape across Africa. The annual Bright Africa research initiative was started by RisCura in 2013 to answer key investor questions about investing on the continent. This year, RisCura expanded the breadth of its analysis, to...
Tomorrow’s retirement industry will be radically different – So what should pension funds be thinking about now?
Pension funds today should be investing for a horizon of 80 years or more. While it’s impossible to predict what the world will be like in 2100, it’s safe to assume it will be radically different to the one we live in today. We can expect the retirement industry to be disrupted by many unpredicted...
