Lifestyle

SA's bond market is offering attractive yields in relation to recent history. Image: 123RF/Kheng Ho Toh After the 2008 global financial crisis, monetary policymakers across the globe reduced interest rates to buffer their economies. Alongside declining cash rates, US bond yields have also been in a steady decline for the past four decades. This made the phrase “search for yield” popular among international investors, who had to scramble to find respectable income yields from developed market issuers. Emerging market instruments were never really in contention because they fell prey to pressure from risk-off environments and a stronger dollar. SA, for example, offers relatively strong bond yields but risk appetite is so severely constrained that investors often fall back on their st...

Read the full listing of the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies below. Image: 123RF/Anton Samsonov The Sunday Times Top 100 Companies awards, futured by BCX and which were presented online in November this year, acknowledge those listed companies that have generated shareholder returns that outperformed their listed peers. The methodology for the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies was changed in 2019 to focus on larger enterprises. Companies with a minimum market capitalisation of R5bn at August 31 2020 and a track record of five years’ trading from September 1 2015 were included. Selected companies that met the aforementioned criteria but are no longer listed on the JSE or whose share is suspended at August 31 2020 were excluded from the analysis. The executive management of Arena Holdin...

Standard Bank has added new and competitive benefits to its Money Market Select account. Image: 123RF/Cathy Yeulet Our circumstances can change all too easily — nothing has demonstrated this better than the events of this year. When deciding where to invest funds, it's important to consider a vehicle that's not too restrictive and allows you the freedom to withdraw whenever you need to. Standard Bank has launched new and competitive benefits to its Money Market Select account. Designed to suit your evolving individual financial and investment needs and help you achieve your life goals, Standard Bank’s Money Market Select Investment account now allows its customers to invest from R100,000 with a competitive rate of up to 4.65% while enjoying the flexibility of having immediate acces...

Mauritanians welcomed the intervention of Morocco to clear the Guerguarat crossing where the Polisario has prevented the flow of commercial and passenger traffic for more than 20 days. Different Mauritania media outlets described the clearing of the crossing as the end of an economic blockade imposed by the Polisario in total disregard for the interest of the Mauritanian people. The closure of the Guerguarat crossing prevented hundreds of trucks loaded with all kinds of vital goods including foodstuff from accessing Mauritanian and west African markets. Polisario’s banditry resulted in soaring prices of fresh produce in Mauritanian markets. The Mauritanian Foreign Ministry has attempted to intercede to persuade the Polisario to abstain from blocking the road but in vain. Nearly all Ma...

Moroccan investment fund, Outlierz Ventures, has made eight investments in Africa since its launch in 2017. The operations mainly benefited four dynamic African markets in terms of fundraising, including Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt and Morocco.   The company, dedicated to technology, invests between MAD 500,000 and 5 million in companies with high growth potential. It targets the logistics, financial services and health sectors.   For the current year, the venture capital fund has carried out three equity investments, mainly in Nigeria and is preparing nearly 5 new investments by the end of the year. Outlierz Ventures is backed by American and African investors.   Kenza Lahlou, co-founder of Outlierz Ventures, says the COVID-19 crisis has benefited portfolio companies with d...

Luxembourg announced on Wednesday the opening of a Trade and Investment Office (LTIO) in Casablanca, the ninth in the world and the first in Africa.   The opening of the office comes as part of the strengthening of economic and trade relations between Morocco and Luxembourg.   A statement from LTIO Casablanca announced that the office will serve Luxembourg companies seeking to invest in Morocco.   It will identify opportunities in Morocco and more widely in Africa for Luxembourg companies from different sectors.   It will also assist Moroccan investors and companies seeking to operate in Luxembourg, a gateway to the rest of Europe.   The official opening of LTIO Casablanca was announced in Luxembourg on Tuesday at the end of the half-yearly meeting of the...

The Moroccan Government approved on Thursday an amendment of the Morocco-Turkey Free Trade Agreement, increasing tariffs by up to 90 pc on 1200 Turkish goods for a five-year period. The amendment falls under Bill No 54.20, which Morocco and Turkey signed on August 24 after the two countries reviewed their Free Trade Agreement. The bill and the amendment aim to impose customs duties, for a five-year period, on certain Turkish industrial products listed in the agreement to reach 90% of the value of products from the most-favored-nation. A most-favored-nation clause requires a country to provide any concessions, privileges, or immunities that it grants to one nation to all member states of the World Trade Organization. In short, the clause compels a state to respect the equal treatment of ...

 Image captionMum-of-three Paula says staying at home has been good for the family finances The coronavirus pandemic has hit the global economy hard, but some people's personal finances have never looked better. Since the US shut down en masse in March, mum-of-three Paula, who lives in New Hampshire, has paid off some $20,000 (£15,270) in credit card debt the family had racked up in the aftermath of an unexpectedly expensive work relocation. The 35-year-old's job as an analyst ended in June, but her husband is still working and she benefited from a temporary $600 boost to weekly unemployment payments Congress approved in response to the crisis. She put coronavirus stimulus cheques from the government towards the credit card payments, as well as thousands of dollars the family has saved s...

Cineworld is set to temporarily close its UK cinemas in the coming weeks. As first reported in the Sunday Times, the firm is writing to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden to say the industry is now "unviable". The firm says it has been hit by delays in the release of big-budget films, putting 5,500 jobs at risk. The premiere of the 007 film No Time To Die has been postponed twice and is now due for release in April 2021. 'No-one untouched' It is hoped that the Cineworld cinemas will be able to reopen next year, with staff being asked to accept redundancy in the hope of rejoining the company when theatres open again. The head of the UK Cinema Association said he feared the Cineworld closure was "indicative of challenges faced by the entire UK cinema industry...