Market Outlook 2025 – The Perils of Prediction and the Principles of Investing

Loading player...
This week, we explore the challenges of market prediction and investment strategies in its latest episode of the new underlying series called the Long Game with Adrian Saville – economist, investor, and academic. The discussion highlights why financial markets resist simple forecasts due to their dynamic and interconnected nature. In this instance, two works are considered by Saville.

The first piece of work comes from Bloomberg’s John Authers. At the end of each year, he writes an article for his imagined investment firm, Hindsight Capital, which makes fantastically astute decisions because they know – with the benefit of hindsight – what to buy and what to avoid. The fantasy shows just how hard it is to imagine what each year delivers. The second piece of work comes from Cliff Asness, co-founder of AQR Capital Management, who, in a recent article leaps forward a decade, imagining the errors that will become evident in hindsight by 2035.

Drawing on these two works, the episode tackles the futility of prediction and the importance of building resilient investment portfolios from the get-go.
The conversation also delves into current market trends, including risks in the US equity rally, debt challenges with US Treasuries, and China’s economic slowdown and potential parallels with Japan..

Emphasising discipline and preparation, the podcast offers actionable insights to help investors align portfolios with their long-term goals.
22 Jan 2025 English South Africa Investing

Other recent episodes

Why asset allocation still trumps market noise

In the latest DFM Discussion episode of Money, Markets and Masterminds, Citywire South Africa editor Ruan Jooste sits down with George Dell, executive director at MitonOptimal South Africa and chair of the FIA’s Discretionary Investments Committee, and Jacques de Kock, head of portfolio management at MitonOptimal South Africa. The trio…
12 Jun 38 min

FSCA warns crypto licence is not a stamp of approval

In the latest episode of Regulatory Rulebook, part of Citywire South Africa Money, Markets and Masterminds podcast series, Diketso Mashigo, departmental head of licensing at the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), unpacks the regulator’s evolving approach to crypto asset service providers, why South Africa adopted an interim framework instead of…
28 May 27 min

Why some DFMs may not survive South Africa’s outsourcing boom

South Africa’s DFM market is expanding quickly, but Glacier Invest’s head of Implemented Consulting at Glacier Invest, Rafiq Taylor says not every business will survive the next phase of growth. Speaking to Citywire South Africa on this month’s DFM Discussion, Taylor highlights growing pressure from fee compression, tighter margins and…
27 May 27 min

FSCA’s Astrid Ludin on two-pot, Cofi and the next era for regulation

In this special edition of the Regulatory Rulebook series, Citywire South Africa sits down with Astrid Ludin, outgoing deputy commissioner at the Financial Sector Conduct Authority and president of the International Organisation of Pension Supervisors, for a rare exit interview. From the successful rollout of the two-pot retirement system to…
30 Apr 34 min

DFM value has moved beyond portfolios

Investment Solutions by Alexforbes has reached its two-year track record, giving advisers a clearer view of where the discretionary fund manager (DFM) is adding value and where the model still faces friction. In this episode, Alexforbes DFM specialist and portfolio manager Nadir Thokan discusses performance, manager selection, platform constraints, private…
30 Apr 36 min