If there’s one thing we are learning in Formula One this year, it’s that Fernando Alonso has more resilience and staying power than many international companies! Now driving for Aston Martin, a strong result in the opening race of the year certainly gave the brand a boost. It also led to many momentum and sentiment traders pulling the stock up on their screens on Monday morning, using it as an effective alternative to a bit of sports betting!

“Betting” may well be the word here, as Aston Martin’s financial history is more checkered than the flag at the end of the race. The brand may be on track, but is the company on track as well?

With Barry Dumas of Trive South Africa as our guest, we delved into the world of luxury automobiles and debated whether Aston Martin offers anything close to the investment case of the likes of Ferrari.

For more information on Trive South Africa, visit the website at www.trive.co.za or check out their social media pages (@trive_sa).

Trive South Africa (Pty) Ltd is an Authorised Financial Services Provider, FSP number 27231.

In this episode of Magic Markets, Craig Antonie of AnBro Capital Investments joined us to discuss a few energy opportunities in the US that the AnBro funds have positions in. There are both dividend- and growth-oriented funds available at AnBro, so there is something for (almost) everyone.

The energy theme is a major driver of global markets at the moment, with a clear push towards clean and green energy (not always the same thing) and inflationary pressure in fossil fuel prices as a result. With a major regulatory move in the form of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the US is the place to be when it comes to investing in energy.

With natural gas as the largest current contributor, one can realistically expect clean and green energy sources to attract the bulk of investment in years to come. There are shovel-in-the-gold-rush opportunities in this space, like power management companies. There are also the utilities or the technology companies in the renewable energy industry.

Craig walked us through the investment thesis for NextEra Energy Partners ($NEP) and First Solar ($FSLR) in detail, with a passing mention of Constellation Energy ($CEG) as good examples of how this sector offers opportunities for different types of investors.

Episode 115 of Magic Markets is brought to you by AnBro Capital Investments, an authorised Financial Services Provider FSP number 48371.

Regular listeners of Magic Markets have learnt a great deal about alternative investments and private deals, thanks to the various professionals at Westbrooke Alternative Asset Management who have joined us on the show.

Richard Asherson and James Lightbody join us this week to update us on the UK market and the conditions under which the Westbrooke Yield Plus fund operates. The focus of the fund is capital preservation, and with it now turning 5 years old and having consistently delivered in the target return band of cash plus 5% to 7% in GBP, we wanted to go deeper into the success and challenges.

The fund delivers an asymmetric risk/return profile to investors, by focusing on providing loans to lower and middle-market UK companies and real estate sponsors. 

We touched on topics including:
• The way property valuations behave in a time of rising interest rates and lower cap rates
• Pricing for risk in the capital stack, particularly as loan-to-value ratios change over time
• The importance of being strict and saying no to marginal opportunities, with a lovely quote in the show that “deals are like busses – one comes around every five minutes!”
• The way in which Westbrooke competes against traditional banks in debt-led structures
• The relative appeal of debt vs. equity in this environment
• The evolution of market conditions: post-COVID vs. pre-COVID
• A couple of real-world examples of transactions that Westbrooke has been involved in

For more information on Westbrooke’s alternative asset strategies, be sure to visit www.westbrooke.co.za to find out more. You can also find Westbrooke on Twitter @WAAM_SA or on LinkedIn. Westbrooke Alternative Asset Management is an authorised Financial Services Provider, FSP number 46750.

In Magic Markets, we try to eat our own cooking. When we cover stocks in Premium, it’s either because we already have a position in them or because we are interested in taking a position and want to do further research. In this episode of Magic Markets, we took advantage of a “just the two of us” situation to talk about some of the positions in our portfolios.

Moe opted to talk about Visa, Disney and Simon Property Group, as well as Fedex as an example of a trade that got away.

The Finance Ghost spoke about Hasbro as a mistake, alongside Accenture and Ferrari as much happier stories.

Authenticity has always been our focus in Magic Markets. We learn even more from our mistakes than we do from our wins and we love sharing those learnings with our listeners.

If you like what you hear this week, consider joining us in Magic Markets Premium for a weekly, in-depth look at global companies. At only R99 per month or an annual deal of R990 for the year (two months for free), it's the best value you'll find in your research journey and perhaps the best investment you’ll make!
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A multi-asset investment platform is a complicated animal to build and operate. With considerations like getting the balance of automation and human involvement just right, through to the need to meet numerous legislative and compliance requirements, the engine room of a brokerage carries a major responsibility. For anyone interested in the behind-the-scenes reality at a financial services institution, this is a great show.

At Trive South Africa, that responsibility rests of the shoulders of Marius Grobler, who is as passionate about his role as he is capable. In this episode of Magic Markets, we took the opportunity to delve into the nuts and bolts of Trive and what makes it different.

For more information on Trive South Africa, visit the website at www.trive.co.za or check out their social media pages (@trive_sa).

Trive South Africa (Pty) Ltd is an Authorised Financial Services Provider, FSP number 27231.

Guess what? The hype machine is back in the market, this time focused on the exciting new world of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Some of the intelligence is artificial indeed, with any company that has “AI” in its name trading higher this month, regardless of what AI stands for!

There’s nothing more dangerous than a market that is chasing the Next Big Thing. Momentum traders have a field day, but the good ones know when to get out of the way. For investors, scrutiny is needed.

Together with Justine Brophy of AnBro Capital Investments, we took a deeper look at AI and what it practically means for investors. This is a great follow-on from our recent Magic Markets Premium report on Microsoft, a company at the forefront of this new technology.

Episode 111 of Magic Markets is brought to you by AnBro Capital Investments, an authorised Financial Services Provider FSP number 48371.

For founders and executives, raising capital is always a hot topic. Cash is the lifeblood of any organisation and the “capital stack” is an important and complicated area of finance that far too many entrepreneurs don’t have a proper understanding of.

After several podcasts with the Westbrooke team members, in which we have learnt about the different investment mandates in the group and how they operate, we welcomed Jonti Osher back to the show alongside Brent Blankfield both of whom focus on flexible capital solutions. If you ever wanted to know how to make your business more attractive to an investor like Westbrooke, you’re in the right place.

We discussed topics like:
• The critical importance of the management team and the need to build partnerships around the companies that Westbrooke invests in
• The extent to which Westbrooke performs a due diligence on the management team, not just the business
• The niche in which Westbrooke plays, focusing on speed of execution and an ability to do value-adding lending transactions that are usually too small for investment banks
• The approach taken in assessing a business for a debt-led investment strategy, with an equity kicker for Westbrooke as part of a hybrid funding strategy
• The ways in which to make a business more investable for Westbrooke

This is a must-listen for anyone interested in understanding more about capital raising and the relationship between risk and return.

For more information on Westbrooke’s alternative asset strategies, be sure to visit www.westbrooke.co.za to find out more. You can also find Westbrooke on Twitter @WAAM_SA. Westbrooke Alternative Asset Management is an authorised Financial Services Provider, FSP number 46750.

As we get ready to sign off on the first month of 2023, Petri Redelinghuys from Herenya Capital Advisors joined us to talk about the mood of the traders in the community and some of the ideas and strategies that they are putting in place.

We also talked about the South African economy and the obvious impact of load shedding, with some long-term silver linings thrown in for good measure.

As the founder of Herenya Capital Advisors, Petri is committed to upskilling traders and helping people find success in the market. To learn more about their offering, visit the Herenya website and follow them on Twitter. Herenya Capital Advisors is an authorised financial services provider, FSP number 47080.

Trive South Africa offers a gateway to the JSE and global markets. Providing an in-depth online trading experience, Trive exists to empower progression. You can simply and securely trade and invest in JSE and US stocks and leveraged products, or invest in tax free savings accounts.

Travis Robson is the CEO of Trive South Africa and he joined us on Magic Markets to discuss:
• The types of stockbroking clients and how the industry has evolved
• The key differentiators of Trive and particularly how the group will combine new-age tech with the best of old-school service (telephone brokers, anyone?) to deliver a great customer experience
• The importance of building a community around Trive and how that will be achieved through research and other means
• The extent of the offering on the platform, including the number of securities available and the mix of asset classes and derivatives

For more information on Trive South Africa, visit the website at www.trive.co.za or check out their social media pages (@trive_sa).

Trive South Africa (Pty) Ltd is an Authorised Financial Services Provider, FSP number 27231.

If you can imagine the worst possible year for anything, then you’re starting to understand what 2022 was like for investors in growth stocks. The combination of rising interest rates and inflated valuations at the start of the year meant that investors suffered drops of 30% (and more) across many of the “growth” names in the portfolio, including the world’s leading tech companies.

Investing requires a longer-term lens than this and a strong stomach, although we all know that seeing these drops isn’t fun. Together with Craig Antonie of AnBro Capital Investments, we recap why 2022 was a perfect storm and what the outlook is for 2023 for stocks.

Episode 107 of Magic Markets is brought to you by AnBro Capital Investments, an authorised Financial Services Provider FSP number 48371.