The Allan Gray Podcast

From persistent loadshedding to deteriorating national infrastructure, South Africa’s challenges are well known. The recurring negative headlines have prompted many investors to look into increasing their offshore exposure as they ask themselves whether investing in the local market is still worth the risk. In conversation with portfolio manager Tim Acker, investment analysts Siphesihle Zwane and...

As memories of masks and lockdown restrictions fade, investors face a new list of challenges. Locally, loadshedding has eroded business margins and is casting a shadow on the market. Abroad, the threat of a new banking crisis has proven extremely unsettling and is having a negative impact on sentiment. In the latest episode of The Allan Gray Podcast, portfolio manager Thalia Petousis and Sandy McG...

2022 will probably be remembered for being the year of war and inflation, and the end of a decade of “free money” distorting markets. To put it in perspective, a passive 60:40 offshore balanced fund delivered probably its worst performance in US dollars in 100 years, sending a clear message to investors: Things have changed. Allan Gray chief investment officer, Duncan Artus, joins Tamryn Lamb, hea...

Although banks are generally geared to economic activity, many local banks proved to be resilient through the COVID-19 pandemic and have been good investments since. But 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? Allan Gray portfolio manager Tim Acker poses this question to investmen...

Retirement reform is on the horizon as the National Treasury takes steps to implement the proposed “two-pot retirement system”. The proposed system has the dual aim of creating limited access to retirement fund assets to help savers cope with short-term emergencies and improving the preservation of retirement savings – ultimately producing better retirement saving outcomes. Allan Gray’s head of As...

In the latest episode of The Allan Gray Podcast, hosted by Allan Gray portfolio manager Rory Kutisker-Jacobson, Dan Brocklebank, head of Orbis UK, reflects on the most valuable investment truths he has learnt as he celebrates two decades at the firm. Dan joined our offshore partner during the dotcom boom and has seen our shared investment philosophy play out through multiple cycles. During the con...

Investors in commodity miners and producers have found themselves in one of the better places in the market since the pandemic, owing partly to a lift in demand as countries embarked on stimulus programmes and supply-side constraints keeping a lid on production. Local mining shares were one of the key driving forces behind the FTSE/JSE All Share Index hitting a new high earlier this year. As local...

South African inflation just hit its highest peak since 2009, as it accelerated to 7.4% in June, in line with the global trend. Over in the US, inflation reached a four-decade high of 9.1% last month. As households around the world grapple with rising food and fuel costs, central banks are faced with the difficult task of hiking interest rates to rein in inflation. Allan Gray portfolio manager San...

From the global technology stock sell-off and rising inflation, to the war in Ukraine exacerbating a global energy crisis, investors are tasked with navigating an increasingly complex and volatile environment. In the first episode of the Allan Gray podcast, Tamryn Lamb hosts a conversation with Allan Gray’s chief investment officer, Duncan Artus, and Alec Cutler, portfolio manager at our offshore...