NEWS & OPINION
4
31 May 2017
PROFILE
VERY BRIEFLY
DUGGAN MATTHEWS, INVESTMENT PROFESSIONAL,
MARRIOTT ASSET MANAGEMENT
How did you
become involved
in financial
markets – was
this something
you always
wanted to do?
My fi rst job aft er
university was with
Marriott – as an asset
manager based in
Durban with a unique
income focused
investment style.
I’m still there today,
11 years later and
I thoroughly enjoy
what I do.
I found out early
on at a school that
I was pretty good
with numbers and
then discovered I
had a passion for
economics while at
university. At that
stage, I wasn’t sure
exactly what I wanted
to do but knew it
would be a good idea
to try and marry my
relative strengths
and interests with
my career. Marriott
presented me with
an opportunity to
do just that shortly
aft er I fi nished my
studies. Not long aft er
I started working,
I knew that I was on
the right path. I found
the work stimulating,
my role played to my
strengths; I loved the
company’s culture
and believed we were
making a diff erence in
the fi nancial services
industry. I consider
myself to be very lucky.
Given the
volatility in
both local and
offshore markets
– downgrades in
SA and elections
in Europe – what
makes a good
investment in
today’s economic
environment?
For a company to be
considered a ‘good
investment’ here at
Marriott, it must tick
two very important
boxes. Firstly, it
must be appropriately
priced, or in other
words its dividend yield
must be acceptable.
Secondly, it must be
able to consistently
and reliably grow its
dividends irrespective
of changing economics,
politics, fashions or
trends. Th is helps ensure
both a predictable and
a cceptable investment
outcome over the
long term. In today’s
environment (and indeed
most environments) we
believe quality, dividend
paying multi-national
companies – that own
the world’s most sort
aft er consumer brands
fulfi l these criteria better
than most. Not only
are the dividend yields
of these businesses
relatively attractive
(approximately 3%)
but the outlook for
dividend and capital
growth from these
companies are also very
good, as they stand to
be major benefi ciaries
of the consumption
boom anticipated in the
developing world over
the next decade.
What do/will
you teach your
children about
money?
To look aft er it. Money
is a function of talent,
hard work and time.
All of those things
are precious so being
reckless with money
makes no sense.
I was taught very early
on in my career to only
be prepared to invest in
the shares of companies
I would be happy to
own for 10 years or
longer – easier said
than done, considering
how the world around
us is changing all the
time. Th us, the objective
of research prior to
making an investment
always begins with
trying to answer one
simple question – ‘what
could go wrong’? When
the answer is ‘not
much’, you know you’re
on the right track.
UPS & DOWNS
China’s economy
expanded by 6.9% in Q1
2017, the fastest rate in
six quarters. This follows
higher government
infrastructure spending
and a property boom
that helped raise
industrial output by the
most in over two years.
The Q1 result came
in slightly higher
than anticipated, but
economists expect the
economy to lose steam
later this year. This is
as the impact of earlier
stimulus measures start
to fade and as authorities
continue to attempt to
rein in house prices.
Production of crude steel
rose 1.8% year-on-year to
72m metric tons.
This implies a record
average daily run-rate
of 2.323m tons.
United Airlines’ stock
dropped as much as
4% on Tuesday 11 April
with the company losing
around $800 million
in value. This was
sparked by an incident
in which a 69-year-old
man was dragged off
an overbooked fl ight at
Chicago’s O’Hare airport
on Sunday 9 April.
On Monday, 10 April,
the airlines shares
were unaff ected by the
scandal, but by the end
of the day, video footage
of the incident went viral
and the social media
backlash intensifi ed.
The company’s CEO,
Oscar Munoz, was then
forced to make a third
apology, following two
unsuccessful ‘apologies’.
Coface, the French-based trade credit insurer,
has announced the appointment of Jacqui
Jooste as Coface South Africa CEO-Country
Manager. “Ms Jooste has been an Executive
Director and board member of Coface since
August 2008 and has held the position of COO
since September 2014. With a career spanning
more than 20 years at the entity, Ms Jooste
has grown through the ranks, having worked
in various key strategic positions throughout
the company since her inception in 1993,”
says Gino Conte, the previous Coface South
Africa CEO. He will return to Italy to focus on
his existing responsibility as Chief Commercial
Offi cer for Southern Europe and Africa.
Sasfi n Wealth is pleased to announce the
appointment of Errol Shear to the position of
Head of Value Equity and Absolute Return.
Shear will assume the position on 2 May 2017.
The company says he brings considerable
experience to the role and has had an
extensive career, most recently as the CIO
at Absa Asset Management. Shear’s more
than 30 years’ industry experience includes a
decade at Absa. Prior to that, he spent more
than two decades at STANLIB, managing the
absolute return portfolios with a value of over
R10 billion. Additionally, Shear was responsible
for the management of the Liberty Group and
Liberty Active (Charter Life) life fund portfolios,
as well as certain segregated funds.
Liberty Group has announced the
appointment of Derrick Msibi as CEO of Liberty
Asset Management Cluster and STANLIB South
Africa with eff ect from 1 May 2017.
He has 17 years’ experience and a proven
track record in the asset management
industry, ranging from a portfolio manager in
the alternatives asset class to the managing
director of the largest multi-manager in South
Africa. “He will be a great asset to Liberty’s
strategic journey with regard to attaining
our Strategy 2020 objectives. Derrick’s
responsibilities will be to drive strategy and
provide leadership to the combined LibFin
and STANLIB teams. Derrick will be a member
of the STANLIB Board and the Liberty Group
Executive Committee,” the company says.
Michael Ferendinos has been appointed
Enterprise Risk Business Unit Head at Aon
South Africa. He joins the team from the
Institute of Risk Management South Africa
(IRMSA) where he served as the Chief Risk
Advisor for the industry and as the Chairman of
the Risk Intelligence Committee. He also holds
the title of ‘Up and Coming Risk Manager of the
Year’ and compiled and presented three IRMSA
South African Risk Reports from 2015-2017.