Improving technology solutions by adopting the perspective of the user, or "eating your own dog food," is a powerful strategy for businesses aiming to enhance their technology platforms offered to board members, fund members, employers and other stakeholders. This...
Q1 2025

Runway in view
Fifteen years ago, in January 2009, US Airways Captain Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger landed an Airbus A320 in the Hudson River in New York City. It was an iconic moment in the history of aviation. The forced landing was necessary after both engines were knocked out by...
Key trends that will lead to a mixed investment environment in 2024 and what this means for trustees
As South Africa prepares to celebrate three decades of democracy amid a potential election upset and shifting global political landscape, Alexforbes believes that there are windows of opportunity that fund managers can take advantage of to find value for their...
Rising noise levels in markets test investors – in a volatile year, staying invested will matter as events could turn quickly
Markets had a strong run in the final weeks of 2023 as investors rushed to price in a monetary policy pivot - in the form of anticipated rate cuts - from central banks. That has left valuations looking stretched across asset classes. But it is already clear that 2024...
Sustainability of investments and assets in the context of retirement funds
Investors have an important role to play in creating a better South Africa. Investing with sustainability as fundamental consideration is key in shaping a future in which we want to retire. There is an increasing awareness that how these investments are directed can...
Top ten macroeconomic trends in 2024
Investors, envisioning a route away from a deeper or more prolonged recession, are nevertheless still likely to grapple with a moderation in global economic activity in 2024, driven by the ongoing repercussions of tight monetary policies, constrained government...
2024: A year for stock-picking
Contrary to what many pundits had anticipated, most equity markets ended 2023 in strong positive territory. Investor confidence and sentiment were lifted by the increasing belief that interest rates had reached their peak and a US recession seemingly averted, with...
Fire or water – opportunities in China’s structural challenges
In European mythology, dragons breathe fire and terror; in Chinese mythology, water and prosperity. As China celebrates its year of the dragon, that difference in perception sums up the debate about China’s long term structural challenges. We tend to side with those...
Artificial Intelligence: Fad or future and how best to invest
Just over a year ago we were all enthralled by the emergence of a technology that promised to disrupt all facets of our lives. What started as a live social experiment of opening large Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms, in the form of ChatGPT, to answer the...
Recognising the overlooked potential in female led and gender balanced businesses
Africa takes the lead in global female entrepreneurship, with women constituting 58% of self-employment across the continent, as reported by the OECD and World Economic Forum. Ironically, this ranking coexists with significant gender based funding disparities....