Gold has been on a tear in 2025, surging 50% in value and setting more than 30 nominal records for the year to date. During September alone, gold racked up a 10% gain as investors fretted about inflation and a looming US government shutdown. Gold is at the top of the performance tables for 2025,…
Many people conflate ETFs (exchange-traded funds) with ‘passive’ management and unit trusts or mutual funds (Funds) with ‘active’ management. This is a fallacy. In reality, there are both actively managed ETFs, where portfolio managers select securities in an effort to outperform a benchmark, as well as many passively managed Funds. A related myth is that…
At Dynasty, we’ve traditionally had a strong bias towards ‘quality’ in our clients’ global equity portfolios. In brief, the quality investment style favours stocks with strong balance sheets, stable earnings, and high returns on equity. Such companies have strong heritage brands, substantial pricing power, credible management teams, and operate in sectors with high barriers to…
The US dollar has had its worst half-year in five decades, reflecting its most pronounced first-half decline in value since 1973, when President Richard Nixon was in office. The currency is down more than 10% against a basket of major currencies for the year to date, sliding 13.85% against the euro alone. Emerging markets (EM),…
The JSE delivered remarkable returns for the first half of 2025, outperforming most stock markets in other developed and developing markets alike. The All Share Index (ALSI) was up 16.7% in rand terms and 24.26% in US dollars for the six months to June 30, well ahead of the dollar returns of the S&P 500…
It has been just over a year since South Africa’s Government of National Unity (GNU) was formed. The following research piece, penned on 3 July by Louw Nel and Jee-A van der Linde of Oxford Economics, explains that the GNU has struggled since its existence because it was formed in an ad hoc manner; the…
“The only way this problem can be cured is with Tariffs, which are now bringing tens of billions of dollars into the USA. They are already in effect, and a beautiful thing to behold.” – Donald Trump, US President “When those with the most knowledge and the largest platforms subordinate truth to political alignment, they…
After powering equities markets to new heights in 2023 and 2024, the Magnificent Seven club of stocks has tumbled down to earth in the first quarter of 2025. These stocks have lost trillions of dollars in valuation, dragging the Nasdaq composite into correction territory (-10%) and pulling the S&P 500 down 5% for the quarter.…
For many years now, we have had a strong bias towards the Quality style of investing within our clients’ portfolios and our house-view funds. Traditional quality fund managers will pick the stocks of companies that have a track record of consistent earnings growth, whilst maintaining healthy balance sheets throughout good and bad times. These quality…
