A new year is a good reason for a party. However, not all new years are fun affairs. The start of South Africa’s tax year, for example, is rarely welcomed with music and dancing. That’s unlikely to change.

“Blink, and you’ll miss it!” The phrase usually applies to the tiny towns and dorpies dotted along South Africa’s many traditional holiday road trip routes. Unless the family stops for petrol and a snack, it’s gone in a flash.

Time flies when you’re building industry-leading tracking funds. We have had the privilege of learning that first-hand. It has been six years of hard work, surprises – just think of Covid! – victories and challenges to overcome.

Platinum is performing for investors. This is no stroke of luck. Platinum has strong fundamentals and a critical role in the modern economy

If you’ve been watching the investment world lately, you’ll know index funds aren’t just keeping pace, they’re breaking records. Globally, ETFs and other index trackers topped $17 trillion in assets under management, and in South Africa, the exchange-traded product market has swelled to over R233 billion – up from R165 billion at the end of 2023.

Think Forum 2025 sparked dynamic conversations on index investing and the themes shaping the global and local investment landscape. If you were unable to join us or want to revisit the highlights, we’ve pulled together the most thought-provoking moments, expert viewpoints and practical takeaways from the day.

Welcome to our new-look newsletter: Inside Track. This is where our 1nvest professionals bring you into the fold with the latest trends, changes and insights relating to index investing.

We hope that all of our clients and partners had a restful holiday period and share our sense of renewed energy for 2024. By all accounts, we are in for a busy year ahead, full of challenges and opportunities.

We hope that all of our clients and partners had a restful holiday period and share our sense of renewed energy for 2024. By all accounts, we are in for a busy year ahead, full of challenges and opportunities.

You’ve probably seen the headlines in the financial press about Japan’s equities boom. The Nikkei index keeps hitting record highs after gaining more than 28% last year. At the same time, the country’s economic growth is stagnant. It was only after GDP figures were revised upwards for Q4 of 2023 that Japan officially avoided a technical recession. It’s worth unpacking this apparent contradiction.

In the 1990s there was only one name in computer chips. Its logo was almost certainly on the hulking big PC you used at home, in the office or in the school computer room. But one day in 1993, while Intel enjoyed a near monopoly over computer chips, three enterprising tech entrepreneurs formed a company over coffee and breakfast at a roadside diner in East San Jose, California.

We often describe our exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as “highly liquid”. And they are. Compared to many investments, ETF investors have great freedom to buy and sell at a market rate, and to have the exchange completed rapidly. In this edition of Inside Track, we take a moment to explain the mechanics that make this possible.