Business Update
F&A MONTHLY UPDATE | AUGUST 2021
We are finding a really sound rhythm following the pure quantum of change we all got slapped with in the past year and a half. When lockdowns and Covid hit, we braced the business for a 50% pullback. Not because we felt portfolios would pull back that much, but because being prepared for a 50% drop affords one many options. All calls we make are with sustainability in mind! Interestingly enough, business over the period is up nearly 25%, putting us in a fascinating position. A pat on our back, a big extended thanks to all our clients for their continued belief in us, and of course to all our support specialists for their dedication.
I have paid special attention to shortfalls in the business and have worked hard to resolve the following:
Succession Planning
I was obviously my Dad’s succession plan and he, mine. Following his retirement last year, I have been working on finding a high-quality successor in the event of my untimely demise. I do assure you I have no plans of going anywhere and hope to hang around for a long time still! I have made good progress here and am hoping to have positive news for you in the coming months. Should anything happen in between now and this hopeful announcement, Candice has been briefed on how best to handle the continued running of the business. She is very competent in this regard. Please know that all of your investments and strategies are owned by you, and so should I not be around, you won’t lose anything but my counsel, dedication and witty repartee.
Specialist Partners
As you know, we believe in working with only the best. In this respect, we also acknowledge that there are areas where we are strong, and areas where we need support. To address areas outside of our sweet spot, I am at different stages of discussions with specialist individuals and teams to align to and in some instances, join the business in the following areas:
Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning
Tax Planning
Medical Aid & Gap cover
Short-term insurance
Long-term insurance
Employee benefits – Pension & Provident funds, and Group Risk
The above projects are exceptionally exciting, and should they complete over the coming 12 months, would see F&A in a resilient position, with an even more rounded and specialised offering. I am hopeful that solving for succession and complementing specialists will allow us to truly put our hand up for being at the forefront of advice in the country - a target I continue to chase.
Portfolio Rebalance
In case you’ve missed it, we have run rebalancing to both our local and global investment solutions, as communicated in the past months, you can find those updates here:
Local Rebalance (7 to 17 September 2021)
Global Rebalance (10 to 17 August 2021)
Other than that, please enjoy the below monthly update courtesy of Brendan!
August 2021 Update
This month's piece is compiled by Brendan de Jongh, SA Head of Research - PortfolioMetrix.
Local Update
South African (SA) property had a strong month comfortably outperforming all asset classes. This was followed by SA equity which was boosted mainly by the Financials sector (of which SA Real Estate forms a part). Global bonds (ZAR) performed worst as global bond yields rose slightly affecting longer duration bonds. SA bonds had a good month with the longer end of the yield curve rallying resulting in a flatter yield curve. The SA rand originally weakened over the month but then moved into a strong strengthening trend since the latter part of August.
Global Update
Data released in August appeared to indicate that countries whose economies reopened earlier have just started to have the foot taken off the accelerator a little. Those economies continue to grow but at a slower pace. Whereas Emerging Markets and Japan have been trying to get to grips with the delta variant and as a result have started to see economic activity dip, although strong vaccine rollout programmes in China and Japan in particular have helped keep serious cases subdued. Equity markets were generally in good shape over the month, whilst bond yields rose slightly which benefitted shorter-duration bonds.