MAKING THE FUTURE

June 12, 2020
If there’s one thing we know for certain about this pandemic, it’s that we know almost nothing for certain about this pandemic.

A thought-provoking article Mark Lilla, a professor of humanities at Columbia University, titled: “No one knows what’s going to happen.” has an interesting take on the current environment, worth reading.

Interestingly, the article, Lilla stated:

“…the post-Covid future doesn’t exist. It will exist, only after we have made it.”

That line of reasoning suggests a glimmer of good news: we may not be able to predict the future, but that doesn’t mean we’re powerless to deal with it.

With that in mind, we are approaching the second month that our offices, in certain jurisdictions, have been open.

Throughout much of the developed world, we see a recovery of the COVID-19 pandemic, with economies opening, infection rates declining, and government stimulus packages being announced.

We have seen the European Central Bank (ECB) increase the size of its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program recently, providing support to the Euro.

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Central banks have stimulated developed market yields to levels that are approaching zero or in some cases, negative.

The ECB’s decision to extend its bond-buying program, coupled with the loosening of lockdown restrictions around the world and better than expected US unemployment data have seemed to increase expectations of a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the past few weeks, the Skybound research team has been doing a lot of investigation into the global banking sector.

As leveraged institutions that are exposed to all kinds of businesses and industries, banks offer a comprehensive perspective on the state of the underlying global economy.

Should you be interested in the detailed research done on global banks, please do not hesitate to contact us.

While traditional banks may not be around forever, they are unlikely to disappear in the near term. Global banks market share of global financial assets has been declining since 2008, while other financial intermediaries have been increasing – hence the opportunities for funds such as Skybound’s flagship Prism Income Fund.

We have seen banks globally experiencing some operational difficulties in the past few months with various economies operating far below full capacity.

This has resulted in timing issues and delays in dealings with both the banks and administrators that Skybound use. So, we want to thank investors for your patience during this period as our NAVs have been released slightly later than usual.

The unpredictability of the current environment is one which both disrupts and provides opportunity. Our focus is to ensure that the uncertain future environment does not impact our investors’ capital.

Hence, our funds invest in companies that we understand and can monitor daily to ensure that they remain focused, and not caught out should things change in a manner contrary to what management may have been expecting.

While the first half of this year has been unpredictable and unique, we remain confident that our team’s investment strategies and the funds continue in their stability.

 

OUR LATEST WEBINAR WITH CAMERON BELLAMY

On Tuesday, we interviewed Cameron Bellamy – the World Record Breaking South African endurance athlete who pushes the limits physically and mentally to give back to Southern Africa.

Over the past 6 years Cameron has amassed 10 Guinness World Records in the sport of ocean rowing and open water swimming.

Cameron completes all his endurance feats for the The Ubunye Challenge, a charity he founded in 2011, which focuses on funding infrastructure for early childhood development projects in the Eastern Cape and educational projects Northern Zimbabwe. The Ubunye Challenge has raised over R4 million.

You can read more about Cameron, over on our blog or watch the webinar here.