In these unusually volatile times, we continue to recommend investment diversification. Still important is to diversify assets offshore in an attempt to obtain a better spread globally and across different currencies. With the availability of far larger investment markets , the consensus remains that offshore equities still offer good value.
The general consensus is that local equities, particularly major industrials, are on the whole fully priced. One leading asset manager says that some of the big industrial counters on the JSE are currently priced at double their true value which is a little scary. Consequently this may not be the best time to follow the passive investment route through the index trackers. Value investing, in which stock picking is the key, seems to be very much in vogue now.
A number of asset managers are still putting their faith in resources, platinum in particular. Timing has not been great and the resource downturn in general has seriously affected fund performance in many cases.