Simon’s weekly wrap: Emerging markets, AI and SA’s tokenised stock boom

Emerging markets (EMs) are no longer the volatile risky investment destinations of previous decades, and I spoke with Grant Webster from Ninety One about this fundamental change. Previous supply shocks have had a larger impact compared to the Iran war response. This is on the back of improved central bank holdings and clearer and better policy implementation. This naturally makes EMs an increasing attractive investment option.

You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.

Lending in South Africa is limited because many potential clients fall outside of the traditional banking space and are forced to rely informal channels. I spoke with Eshmael Mpabanga from Intellect Design Arena who are using AI tools to help banks understand client risks, even when they don’t have the normal credit reporting behind them.

You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.

Tokenised stocks started arriving locally late last year and I spoke with Christo de Wit of Luno on how the growth has been. They’ve crossed the 50 000 client mark for the product and interestingly, the token client is typically younger and buying across a wide range of products including tech, gold and even broad-based ETFs.

You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.

I chatted with Leon Kok in his capacity as chair of the SA Reit Association accounting and JSE committee. They have published their third edition of the Best Practice Recommendations. Most of the changes are minor, with distributable earnings per share, for example, becoming the cleaner Funds From Operations (FFO) per share measure.

You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.

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