South African consumers are increasingly deciding to take their finances into their own hands and managing their investment portfolios by themselves. Do-it-yourself investing, by its nature, is often appealing as it represents an opportunity to minimise costs.

The pace at which company liquidations are decreasing picked up again in October when liquidations dropped by 35.3% year-on-year, after a 28.5% decline in September and a fall of 20.2% in August, according to figures released by Statistics SA this week.

Some of the hardest hit stocks on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 2012 have been those in the resources and construction sectors. And while there is an overlap between these two sectors in terms of business cycles, value manager RE:CM says that of the two, it is only certain resources counters that currently offer value for investors.

As two of the strongest economies in Africa, co-operation between South Africa and Nigeria is pivotal to the growth of the continent – this is the message that came out of a dialogue co-hosted by the Financial Times (FT) and the Nigerian High Commission, and supported by Brand South Africa.

The Gary Player Invitational, held at the Zimbali Country Club over the weekend, enjoyed a hugely successful charity auction, with the golfers, celebrities and business executives taking part in the event that raised more than R4 million.