Simon’s weekly wrap: The Fed’s dollar-printing habit and the rand

News that Satrix CEO, Helena Conradie, will be stepping down later this year is sad but expected – nobody is the boss forever. Helena has been at Sanlam Investments (owners of Satrix) and Satrix for twenty years and CEO for the last decade. I spoke with her about her background and the changes we’ve seen in the industry during her tenure at the company as well as what the future may hold for ETFs in South Africa.

The third wave of Covid-19 infections is hitting South Africa hard and as such the president moved the country back into adjusted Level Four lockdown on Sunday evening. This saw a selloff in hospitality and leisure stocks on the JSE and I spoke with Rand Swiss’s Gary Booysen about potential in these stocks. He makes the point that it is very tough right now, but in time normality will return and despite how the stocks have run in 2021 there is opportunity.

Etion is a micro-cap stock on the JSE with a market cap of around R220 million. But they are selling their LAWTrust business for R245 million. I spoke with acting CEO Richard Willis about the company’s latest results and the sale. He was very candid about selling off the remaining assets, returning value to shareholders and ultimately delisting the company from the exchange. Depending on values for existing businesses it owns there could be some value here for investors.

I spoke with Anchor Capital’s CIO Nolan Wapenaar about the startling data he’d dug up about US dollar printing by the Federal Reserve. Since the start of the pandemic the US has increased the number of US dollars in circulation by a third, a staggering number. We also spoke about the impact this will have on inflation and potentially the rand.

Also this week: Will the JSE have a strong second half? Anchor Capital’s  Deryck Janse van Rensburg on the latest market movements as JP Morgan predicts a bumper second half for the JSE. Nerina Visser from etfSA talks the role of bonds – and bond ETFs – in your portfolio. Dave Nemeth of Trend Forward on malls wooing back foot traffic and new pet store concepts.