If South Africa has a true national sport, it isn’t rugby, it’s arguing about property. Who should buy where, who’s “throwing money away” on rent, and which part of the country is the best. Tian Nienaber unpacks the Cape Town versus Johannesburg semigration debate and finds that the real decision being made is rarely about a city at all. The truth is most family wealth doesn’t survive to the second generation.

I have always been fascinated by maps and the perspective they offer. They don’t just tell you where you are but also show you what lies ahead.

This is similar to financial planning.

When my eldest son entered the working world this year, I found myself a reluctant guide through the maze of medical aid, life cover, and retirement savings. The fundamental challenge remains unchanged: financial independence is something you must consciously choose to buy. In a world built for immediate gratification, the case for patient, purposeful investing is worth making more than ever.

Despite the winter solstice, we are not hibernating. Our role, as always, is to protect our client’s downside volatility as far as possible and grow the real purchasing power of their portfolio.

As we end off 2025, it’s worth pausing to reflect on a year that few would have predicted. Our team looks back on the events that shaped 2025 and look ahead to the new year. The Rand confounded expectations, elevated global valuations gave way to a sharp April sell-off, and yet markets recovered swiftly to deliver strong real returns for patient investors. Above all, it remains a privilege to serve the clients who place their trust in us.

As we reach the midpoint of the year, it’s worth reflecting on how much has unfolded in a few short months. It has been a tumultuous year for global markets and with one important lesson: markets and currencies are never a one-way bet. With South African equities meaningfully outpacing global markets year to date, and generous returns on offer in local fixed interest, the enduring value of diversification has rarely been clearer.

2024 has surpassed even the most optimistic predictions, with the US market poised to deliver gains exceeding 25%. Closer to home, there is reason for quiet optimism: a positive election result, improving sentiment, and streets full of tourists once again. In this festive edition, we share some relaxed reading on the fundamentals of Bitcoin, understanding financial bubbles, the discipline of portfolio re-balancing, and the underrated art of listening well.

2023 has been a tough year for many South Africans. Markets have had their share of volatility, with a weak rand and businesses under pressure. Asset prices have recovered well out of 2022, inflation is waning, and a more relaxed interest rate cycle, should set a more favourable stage in the year ahead.

It’s fair to say 2023 has brought its share of despair and anguish for many South Africans. Continued disappointment in our government weighs heavily, and whatever one’s political view, most of us await the 2024 elections in hope of a better future. The Rand’s weakness has understandably left many local investors fearful, a reminder of the elevated emerging market risk we carry. It is a difficult time, one that calls for calm heads, steady hands, and a great deal of experience.

It’s fair to say it has been quite a year. Global equity and capital market valuations have normalised materially through the year, healthy repricing that sets a firmer base for the returns to come. With global markets sharply down in dollar terms, ZAR investors have been shielded by Rand weakness, resilient local equities, and the stellar alpha of select value managers, a reminder that diversification remains the closest thing to a free lunch.

The shock caused by the Ukraine war has rippled through global markets and economies, with inflation spiralling, supply chains disrupted, and markets jittery. Closer to home there has been an unexpected safety net: Rand strength and SA markets have offered welcome shelter through the turbulence. As always, our diversified strategies have weathered the storm well, a reminder that careful risk management, downside protection, and holding a spread of assets matter most in times like these.

As we come to the end of another Covid-disrupted year, it’s hard to believe a full twenty months have passed since our lives were first turned upside down. Through it all, markets have been reasonably buoyant, and most portfolios are in good shape. Next year our business turns twenty. In this edition of Sterling Times, we share some relaxed summer reading, along with our warmest festive wishes.

February’s Budget passed with little significance, though there was encouragement in the reduced corporate tax rate and the prospect of financial emigration being simplified over time. In markets, the rotation from growth to value has continued, benefitting many of our underlying managers, while the global re-emergence of inflation fears and record-low cash rates present fresh challenges for investors.

In these uncertain times, the Sterling team, who worked tirelessly through such trying circumstances, remain fit and healthy and ready for 2021. In this edition of Sterling Times, we share pieces on global property, fiduciary notes on the accrual system and offshore Wills, a true-life story of risk, and a fund manager’s perspective on global technology valuations. We wish you all safe travels, good health, and look forward to seeing you in 2021.

We have taken real pride in the coordinated leadership South Africa has shown through the Covid-19 crisis. It has been quite a first quarter, the fastest-ever 30% drop in the S&P 500, the unfolding of Covid-19, the Moody’s downgrade, oil near $20 a barrel, and a sharply weaker Rand. Yet our message throughout has remained consistent: do not panic, and do not make irrational decisions. Centuries of experience show that those who bail, fail, and those who stay, succeed.