Editor's Thoughts.

Is it just me or was it a good weekend to be South African? Spring is in the air. And the Springboks beat New Zealand in a brilliant game in Soweto on Saturday, showing what happens when discipline, resilience and the ability to perform under pressure comes together. (Wasn’t that hadeda flyover meme just the funniest?)

To add the cherry on the cake, there’s been some positive news for investors too. In today’s episode of Living Markets with Liberty, the focus is on August’s encouraging local market performance: the FTSE/JSE All Share Index rose 4.6%, supported by a powerful 26.4% gain in resources as gold shares surged (sigh, I told you I should’ve bought gold!), while the rand strengthened 2.7% against the US dollar. Leon and Avi have a great discussion on the current investment context – spoiler alert: I did find the comments around AI equal parts encouraging and frightening. Which I guess summarises the story of 2026. And a sublime controversial question really deserves your attention, and reflection.

Good market returns are only part of the investment story. Frikkie van Loggerenberg (IFSA Asset Managers) flags that fees, platform charges, trading costs and tax drag can quietly eat into long-term wealth. It drives home the point: A portfolio should be judged by what reaches the investor’s pocket, not only its headline return. We’ll be discussing fees at our upcoming webinar on 23 September at 9am. You can register here.

And John Anderson (Sanlam Corporate) adds another dimension on outcomes: retirement funds must increasingly show that responsible investment commitments are translating into measurable action, not simply polished ESG policies.

The lesson? Celebrate the wins, absolutely - but keep asking the tougher questions: What am I paying? What are we invested in? And are our investments being managed responsibly for the long haul?

See you at Day 1 of the IRFA Conference today!

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