August 26, 2024
Cobus Van Schalkwyk, Warwick Wealth Director of Client Care This article discusses the important Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA), looking […]
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August 23, 2024
As we navigate the evolving landscape of wealth management, I want to take a moment to sharesome thoughts on how […]
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August 22, 2024
Marc Wiese, MD of Warwick Wealth According to National Treasury, less than 6% of South Africans retire comfortably, largely due […]
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August 14, 2024
CADIZ BCI MONEY MARKET FUND The Cadiz Money Market Fund remains true to its mandate by consistently providing returns that […]
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July 29, 2024
It has been an eventful first half of 2024, with the South African elections now behind us, but with significant […]
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July 26, 2024
Amidst a highly dynamic international and local environment, we are pleased to bring to you the Orion Investment Managers Global […]
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July 25, 2024
This month, we focus on key global and local market issues, as well as the new ‘Two Pot’ retirement system. […]
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July 25, 2024
Fab 4: This week, we experienced our first -4 degrees Celsius temperature drop in the veldt, with temperatures at the bomas dropping to -2 degrees. For Spirit, Jemu, Grey, and Lilli, this is far from their first winter in the Intensive Protection Zone. However, for Muddy, it is her first time experiencing the cold African winters. Unlike her mother and the rest of the crash, Muddy has her mother’s milk to sustain her and a mom to cuddle close to at night. Even so, she still likes to bury herself in the bales of teff and Lucerne brought by the caregivers to supplement the rhinos’ feeding during the dry season. With such cold temperatures, Lilli, Grey, and Jemu do not venture far at night. Instead, they stay close to Spirit and the rest of the crash, seeking warmth under the trees to avoid the cold dew of the grass. By morning, they are up early and already eating to help get their metabolism going. Then it’s off for a long walk to raise their core body temperatures and find where the sun hits the veldt first.
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July 24, 2024
Two issues closest to the heart of Nelson Mandela, were children and education. So, it was fitting that on Mandela Day this year, the Spirit Foundation spent 18 July at the wonderful Floreat Primary School, during which time the companies within the Spirit Invest Group packed, wrapped and donated over 500 books to the school. The day was filled with home-grown musical talent, plays and motivational talks from staff, scholars and the Spirit Foundation. Following this, staff from The Spirit Foundation, the Spirit Invest Group, Warwick Wealth, Appleton and Orion Investment Managers all participated in reading exercises with the children ranging from Grade R right through to Grade seven. We thank Floreat Primary Principal, Mr Noel Isaacs and his staff for their inspiring leadership and allowing us to share this memorable day at this outstanding school.
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July 12, 2024
An article by Ian Kilbride, published on 12 July 2024. I have the good fortune to have been in the UK for two transformative elections of the twenty first century. The first was in May 2010, which brought thirteen years of Labour Party rule to an end (though it required a Conservative Liberal Democrat coalition) and the even more transformative July 2024 election which swept Labour back into power under Sir Keir Starmer with an astonishing 412 seats, leaving it with a majority of 291 seats in the 650 seat Parliament. To place this in perspective, in 2019, Prime Minister Boris Johnson led the Conservatives to victory with 365 seats and an eighty-seat majority. Five years and three leaders later, the Tories sank to just 121 seats, the lowest number achieved by the western world’s most successful political party. It is widely accepted that Labour’s victory had as much to do with a groundswell of anti-Tory sentiment sweeping the country as much as it did with outright support for Keir Starmer’s changed Labour Party. Due to the peculiarities of the UK’s first past the post (FPTP) electoral system, the magnitude of Starmer’s victory is somewhat misleading. In terms of the […]
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July 4, 2024
CADIZ BCI MONEY MARKET FUND The Cadiz Money Market Fund remains true to its mandate by consistently providing returns that outperform cash. While the fund remains strategically positioned to take advantage of elevated interest rates, we are cognisant of the dynamics in the interest rate environment as we enter the second half of the calendar year. Managed within its prescribed mandate constraints, the fund is consistently outperforming its benchmark, the Alexander Forbes Short Term Fixed Interest (SteFI) composite index. In addition, it diligently ensures the maintenance of adequate liquidity levels while keeping volatility of returns low. CADIZ BCI ENHANCED INCOME FUND The fund benefitted significantly from the strong performance of its exposure to nominal and inflation-linked bonds during the month of June. The exposure to floating rate notes and a diverse array of money market instruments also contributed to the positive performance achieved over the period. The fund maintained its long-standing track-record of delivering low volatility returns and focusing on growing wealth while limiting downside risks. Trading activities implemented during the month were driven by cash flows and reinvestment strategies, aligning with the fund’s objective of prudent portfolio management. CADIZ BCI ABSOLUTE YIELD FUND The combined exposure to nominal and […]
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July 4, 2024
An article by Ian Kilbride, published on 4 July 2024. US presidential debates don’t win elections, but they can lose them. President Biden lost his on 27 June 2024. The greater loser was the American voting public who were presented with the choice of an old man versus a conman running their country for the next four years. Since their introduction in 1960, the US presidential election debates have provided some memorable images and one-liners. Richard Nixon’s sweaty upper lip and uncomfortable shifty eyes while debating the eloquent, dapper and TV savvy John F Kennedy. Film star turned politician Ronald Reagan making fun of his own age and his “there you go again” put down to the hapless Jimmy Carter. And of course, Trump’s threat to Hilary Clinton that, “You’d be in prison” if he were President. But the June 27 Biden-Trump ‘debate’ was on an altogether different scale. The great British political philosopher Thomas Hobbes characterised life as “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”, for Biden the debate was all of these, though not short enough. In fact, it was 90 minutes too long. Through a combination of hubris and suicidal political bad judgment, Biden and his team initiated […]
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July 2, 2024
The Spirit Foundation has significantly increased its long-standing commitment to Everton in the Community and Everton Free School and Football College with a multi-year £2million funding partnership. The two new programmes of support will commence in July 2024 with the aim of creating a lasting impact for disadvantaged communities in Merseyside. The groundbreaking multi-year deal was confirmed recently when Spirit founder, philanthropist and Evertonian, Professor Ian Kilbride, attended one of Everton in the Community’s disability football sessions as well as visiting the Spirit Library at Everton Free School. The Spirit Foundation will now financially support the charity’s 14 disability teams and, in addition, will provide funding to Everton Free School to improve literacy levels, as well as supporting marginalised students in its Football College. A long-standing friend and supporter of both organisations, The Spirit Foundation was founded in 1994 and is a non-profit foundation established to give back and support education, communities and wildlife projects. A long-standing friend and supporter of both EitC and EFS organisations, the Spirit Foundation was founded in 1994 by the Kilbride family as a non-profit foundation to give back and support education, communities and wildlife projects. Currently celebrating its 30th anniversary, the Spirit Foundation has […]
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July 1, 2024
From The Government Of National Unity? An article published by Ian Kilbride on 1 July 2024. Buried within the small print of the Final – Final – Final GNU Statement of Intent is a short, bland, technical clause that commits the Government of National Unity to uphold the principle of evidence-based policy decision-making. Procedural, prosaic and barely noticeable, if applied to the letter, this clause is potentially the most revolutionary and meaningful for future governance in South Africa. While acknowledging the Constitution’s founding provisions, of equality, restorative justice, and the imperative of transformation, much government policy and decision-making has been shaped by ideology and captured by secular political interests, rather than informed by evidence. Of course, every government has an ideological bias and a self-interest to develop policy and make decisions favourable to its electoral constituency, but this need not be at variance with the best available evidence when formulating policy, or decision-making. While lacking any legal basis, clause 8.8 of the Statement of Intent binds all parties to the GNU to elevate evidence above ideology, or at the very least, ensuring that the facts are to be considered in policy and decision making. This is not a new principle […]
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June 27, 2024
Fab 4 Horn Trimming: The trimming of rhino horns, formally known as dehorning, has reluctantly become a crucial layer of protection in the ongoing battle to save the species. This month, both Spirit and Grey had their horns trimmed, while Muddy underwent her very first horn trimming. Jemu and Lilli, who were trimmed last year, avoided the hustle and bustle of the operations teams. These operations are conducted under the strictest regulations. With 499 rhinos killed in South Africa in 2023, every possible measure must be taken to protect the rhinos in strongholds such as ours. Teams from South African National Parks (SANParks), Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA), and Wildlifevets.com joined the Care for Wild team for the operation. Horn trimming involves the safe removal of a significant portion of a rhino’s horn by a qualified and registered veterinarian. The rhino is darted, and part of the horn is removed with a chainsaw. The rough edges are then smoothed with a grinder. Since the entire horn cannot be removed due to the presence of blood vessels and nerve endings at its base, the procedure is similar to trimming fingernails; rhino horns are made of keratin and regrow at a […]
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June 26, 2024
Good For Business And Development. An article by Ian Kilbride, published on 26 June 2024 in IOL. The doomsday coalition scenario has not materialised, but is the nascent Government of National Unity (GNU) doomed? Corporate South Africa’s relief at President Ramaphosa’s announcement to form a Government of National Unity was palpable. Faced with the threat of anti-constitutional, nationalising and fissiparous forces, business welcomed the principle of a national unity government, but particularly one promising to be less arrogant, more balanced, accessible and accountable. The formative composition of the GNU, eschewed by the EFF and MK, in favour of a potentially more business friendly ANC/DA/IFP based government has already boosted confidence. Business is also encouraged by the GNU parties’ Statement of Intent’s commitment to include corporate South Africa in a ‘National Dialogue’ process leading to a social compact to achieve the objectives of the 2030 National Development Plan. Better late than never. Three of the eight fundamental principles guiding the Statement of Intent boost business confidence. The first is to uphold evidence-based policy and decision-making. Understandably, principles of social justice, equity and transformation have been the overarching drivers of much public policy in post-apartheid South Africa. Adherence to and support of […]
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June 25, 2024
An article by Ian Kilbride, published on 25 June 2024. One of the few economic success stories of the post-apartheid era is tourism. The ending of apartheid thirty years ago was a key turning point for this sector as it literally opened the world to South Africa and South Africa to the world. Even the institutional legacies of apartheid, such as Robben Island, have become dark tourism attractions. Dark tourism is a recently recognised sub-sector that focuses on visitors wishing to experience destinations associated with tragic and poignant histories. As a key component of its ‘new’ economy, it is vitally important that South Africa not only maintains its recent tourism successes, but also grows this valuable sector sustainably. Herein lies the challenge. Success is relative too. South Africa is a middling 55th out of 119 countries ranked in the 2024 World Economic Forum Travel and Tourism Index, which is an improvement of seven places since 2019, but still below countries such as Kazakhstan, Thailand and Malaysia. Despite being a long-haul (over five to six hours flying time) destination from its principal tourist visitor market of Europe and North America, however, Mzansi remains the leading tourist destination in Sub-Saharan Africa. For […]
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June 21, 2024
As we enter the month of June, we are pleased to bring you the latest edition of ‘Wealth Matters’, where we delve into the intricacies of wealth management and financial insights tailored to meet your needs. Enjoy the read.
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