PSG Financial Services is the proud sponsor of the Think Big South Africa competition, in collaboration with Economic Research Southern Africa (ERSA). PSG wants to encourage South Africans to get involved in their country at the highest level, bringing forward policy ideas and constructive solutions to drive conversations and real change in our country.

The 2025 topic is How Capital Markets Enhance Economic Performance and Facilitate Job Creation. Papers are due for submission by 30 August 2025. In addition to the fantastic opportunity to drive change in our country, there's an impressive first prize of R500,000 and there are several other cash prizes as well.

To discuss the importance of this competition and why PSG is so proud to be involved, PSG Financial Services CEO Francois Gouws joined me on this podcast.

You can find out more about the competition at this link.

Five years ago, the world was a wild place. We were "staying home and staying safe" - and global central banks were cutting rates dramatically in an effort to stimulate economies under impossible circumstances. This created an unprecedented situation for equities in particular.

It's certainly been a great time to be invested in the markets, but which indices have done well and which ones have been disappointing in relative terms? How does the local vs. offshore story stack up? What about developed vs. emerging markets? And what of government bonds?

With a great selection of statistics to share with the listeners, Siyabulela Nomoyi of Satrix was a wealth of knowledge in this podcast.

This podcast was first published here.

For more information, visit https://satrix.co.za/products

Satrix Investments Pty Limited and Satrix Managers RF Pty Limited are authorised financial services providers. Nothing you have heard in this podcast should be construed as advice. Please do your own research and visit the Satrix website for more information on all their ETF products.

Ever wondered how the nuts and bolts of ETFs work? What goes into index tracking and making sure that it is achieved at the lowest possible cost? And are all indices created equal from a complexity perspective?

In answering these questions (and many more), Lauren Jacobs at Satrix* shows you what a day in the life of a portfolio manager looks like. As you'll learn in this podcast, a great deal of work goes on behind the scenes to make Satrix ETFs as efficient as possible for investors.

This podcast was first published here.

For more information, visit https://satrix.co.za/products

Satrix Investments Pty Limited and Satrix Managers RF Pty Limited are authorised financial services providers. Nothing you have heard in this podcast should be construed as advice. Please do your own research and visit the Satrix website for more information on all their ETF products.

Intengo Market is a revolutionary independent digital marketplace for debt instruments in South Africa. Incubated by RMB in 2020 and having launched as a standalone business in 2024, the platform is growing to improve the market for all participants through outcomes like increased liquidity and price discovery. You can look forward to receiving insights into the debt market in South Africa from Intengo in months to come.

In this podcast, we covered topics like:

• Why is the debt market so important?
• For what reason would a company or state-owned enterprise go the route of public debt markets?
• What are the trends in public vs. private debt markets?
• How does Intengo play a role in price discovery, debt raising strategies and the associated processes?
• What role do ratings agencies play in this ecosystem?

If you're ready to learn about debt markets, you're in the right place.

Debt arrangers, advisors, treasurers, CFOs and debt investors who want to learn more about Intengo Market can visit the website here.

STADIO Holdings has a growth story to tell. That's a rare thing on the South African market. The tertiary education space is booming and STADIO is addressing that demand through a combination of contact learning and distance learning offerings.

On this podcast, CEO Chris Vorster and CFO Ishak Kula joined me to talk through the strategy, the growth prospects, the capital allocation strategy and the risks that keep them up at night. If you want to really dig into the STADIO business model, you're in the right place!

Please note: this podcast has been sponsored by STADIO. Where I work directly with companies, I always craft the questions myself without any influence from the company. My thanks to STADIO for valuing the broader Ghost Mail audience and for stepping into a new era of investor engagement. As always, you must do your own research and treat this podcast as only one part of your research process.

With the markets in disarray in the aftermath of tariffs, it looks like the theme this year is more around risk management in a bear market rather than which growth stocks to buy. Of course, this can change, as markets are volatile and are driven by a number of factors including geopolitics.

This volatility is exactly why diversification is so important. The risk of "diworsification" is ever-present in the strategic asset allocation decision, which is why it ends up being even more important than stock picking.

A quantitative approach to strategic asset allocation is baked into the Satrix Balanced Index Fund and related products. Kingsley Williams, Chief Investment Officer of Satrix, joined me to talk through the key concepts in diversification and the usefulness of a balanced fund.

This podcast was first published here.

For more information, visit https://satrix.co.za/products

Satrix Investments Pty Limited and Satrix Managers RF Pty Limited are authorised financial services providers. Nothing you have heard in this podcast should be construed as advice. Please do your own research and visit the Satrix website for more information on all their ETF products.

With the dust having settled on the Budget Speech and the proposals that parliament will need to vote on, Tertius Troost of Forvis Mazars in South Africa joined me to reflect on the key drivers behind the headlines.

VAT has been the focus area, but is it true that a VAT increase is anti-poor? And is it correct to rebut the "South Africa has a small taxpayer base" argument by pointing out that everyone pays VAT?

What is bracket creep and how does it affect middle-class South Africans?

Perhaps most importantly, what was not said in the Budget Speech?

This podcast is a great way to make sure you are on top of the key drivers behind the fiscal strategy in our country.

Tax-free savings accounts (TFSA) are one of the most building blocks in any equity portfolio. The advantage of compounding tax-free returns over a long period is incredibly powerful and can really turbocharge a long-term wealth creation journey.

To discuss the importance of TFSA investments and the opportunities available to investors in the ETF universe, familiar voice Siyabulela Nomoyi of Satrix* returned to the Ghost Stories podcast.

*Satrix is a division of Sanlam Investment Management

Satrix Investments Pty Limited and Satrix Managers RF Pty Limited are authorised financial services providers. Nothing you have heard in this podcast should be construed as advice. Please do your own research and visit the Satrix website for more information on all their ETF products. This podcast was published on the Satrix website here.