Local bonds and property look appealing as SA inflation likely to stay low in 1H 2025

Nervousness around the US election made Q4 a tough one for risk assets generally, including global fixed income, says Sylvester Kobo, STANLIB Asset Management’s Deputy Head of Fixed Income and manager of the STANLIB Flexible Income Fund, in this podcast. However, the fund returned 13.4% for the year against 9.3% for its benchmark. Many assets are still attractively valued, he says. Local bonds and property are appealing, given that domestic inflation is low and expected to average about 3.5% in the first half of 2025, so further interest rate cuts are likely. Sylvester says the main risks this year will be global, not local.

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