Almost every business around the world is affected by Covid-19 in one way or another. While some have been forced to completely close, others have welcomed a tsunami of new customers that had not even heard of their product a matter of weeks before the crisis hit

On 1 July, renowned Mauritian photographer Paul Choy embarked on a journey to literally Walk Mauritius – walking around the island in 20 days to capture, reconnect and rediscover the beautiful country and its people. Paul stated, “With this walk, I want to explore Mauritius – taking the time to appreciate the things that other people miss… sharing stories of the island’s ocean, land, mountains and people with the world”.

Even the most seasoned investor will admit that the recovery in equity and fixed income markets over recent weeks has been surprisingly fast. But with marketvolatility still at large, how confident should investors reallybe feeling?

What’s to come for the South African Rand over the next 12 months? Please join us as Sanlam Private Wealth South Africa’s ‘senior investment analyst, David Lerche gives his views.
DATE: Thursday, 16 July 2020 | TIME: 10H00 (South Africa) / 12H00 (Mauritius) | REGISTRATION: online

Sanlam UK, part of the international financial services group Sanlam Ltd, last night scooped the High Growth Portfolio Performance award for its Sanlam Global Equity capability at the annual Private Asset Management (PAM) awards.

For those of you who’ve spent the last few months of lockdown wishing you had a second house by the sea, now is the time to go out and buy it! UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a series of Coronavirus recovery measures including job retention bonuses for employers, a £2bn scheme to create jobs for young people and a temporary change to stamp duty. These measures may alleviate short-term pressures but are unlikely to change the longer term dynamics of the economic recovery.

We remain in a relative news vacuum, but reporting season is slowly getting underway, starting with US banks this week. These companies reported making loan loss provisions (money set aside as an allowance for potentially unpaid debts) but were held up by increased trading revenue due to activity in the fixed income market as investors snapped up bargains.

Earlier this week European leaders crossed the Rubicon and agreed an unprecedented economic programme. The EU have agreed a deal on a €750bn recovery fund to address Covid-19 damage; importantly, all raised by issuing EU common bonds for the first time. The issuance of these bonds will enhance the trading bloc’s financial autonomy from the US, furthering its potential role as a reserve currency.

The spectacular photos that Paul Choy has captured thus far, as part of his Walk Mauritius journey, truly tell amazing tales of the beautiful contry of Mauritius and its people.

Investors are swamped with tips in newspapers, on television and online, but are media pundits worth their salt? The media has always fed off individuals’ insatiable appetite to take a punt on the stock market – offering ‘expert’ tips and forecasts in a bid to sell newspapers to investors or direct eyeballs to a television show or website. There is little doubt these forecasts are highly influential.