Category Archive: 3.) Investec

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Basel airport – night time take-offs to be cut in half

2018-04-29

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2018-04-29

Basel Airport
For those who fly regularly, living close to an airport might be convenient, but it’s also noisy. To reduce noise, Basel-Mulhouse airport has decided to reduce the number of flights taking off between 11pm and midnight by half, according to a press release. Unlike Geneva airport, which is located entirely on Swiss soil but still operates a French side, Basel-Mulhouse, Switzerland’s third major airport is on French territory, but run by the Swiss.

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Taxes – one in seven in some Swiss cantons has unpaid tax

2018-04-28

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2018-04-28

Tax Debt
The cantons of Neuchâtel (14.7%) and Geneva (14.6%) have the highest percentages of taxpayers owing money, according to the newspaper SonntagsBlick. Fribourg (12.6%), Bern (9.5%) and Luzern (6.5%) complete the top-five. Vaud (5.9%), Basel-City (5.5%) and Zurich (2.4%) are further down. Aargau (2.0%) and Uri (1.0%) sit at the bottom with fewest with oustanding tax payments.

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Healthcare costs rise further in Switzerland

2018-04-22

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2018-04-22

Sick
Statistics published today show a further rise in Swiss healthcare costs. In 2016, spending on healthcare rose by 3.8% reaching over CHF 80 billion, 12.2% of GDP. In 2015, Swiss healthcare spending was equal to 11.9% of GDP. The challenge of rising healthcare costs is not confined to Switzerland. In the UK in 2015, healthcare costs rose 3.6% to reach 9.9% of GDP.

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Swiss unemployment at lowest in 3.5 years

2018-04-21

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2018-04-21

Unemployment Switzerland
Swiss unemployment is at its lowest for 3.5 years, according to the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The last time Swiss unemployment reached March 2018’s level was in October 2014. After reaching a peak of 3.7% in January 2017, the rate had fallen to 2.9% by March 2018. Unemployment has some seasonality however the rate for last March (2.9%) is low even when compared to March 2016 (3.5%) and March 2017 (3.4%).

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Europe’s most expensive hotels in Geneva, Paris and Zurich

2018-04-20

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2018-04-20

Tacettin Ulas
Across the road from Lake Geneva, sits Geneva’s and the world’s most expensive hotel suite. The Hotel President Wilson’s Royal Penthouse Suite is reported to cost $83,500 per night – the price is not listed on the hotel’s website but costs this much according to CNN. For most of those planning to visit Geneva, this price is, thankfully, an outlier.

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Insurance boss suggests Swiss health insurance deductibles of 10,000 francs

2018-04-18

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2018-04-18

Philomena Colatrella, the CEO of Swiss insurer CSS Insurance, has stirred the lively debate around Switzerland’s rising cost of health insurance by proposing deductibles of CHF 5,000 and CHF 10,000 – deductibles set the amount people pay out of their own pockets before their insurance kicks in.

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Swiss welfare recipient made to repay 173,000 francs

2018-04-16

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2018-04-16

Swiss Francs
In some parts of Switzerland welfare payments are effectively loans that must be repaid when the recipient’s financial situation improves. According to the Aargauer Zeitung, a welfare recipient in the commune of Klingnau in the canton of Aargau received a bill of 173,000 francs after he came into some money. A windfall of 173,000 francs is rare, according to Rolf Walker, head of administration at the commune.

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“Swissleaks” author arrested in Spain at Switzerland’s request

2018-04-15

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2018-04-15

Hervé Falciani
According to Tribune de Genève, Hervé Falciani was arrested in Madrid last week at Switzerland’s request. In 2008, Falciani a French-Italian who grew up in Monaco, took confidential information from the Geneva offices of HSBC, his employer, and fled to Lebanon where some claim he attempted to sell it. Later he shared the information with authorities in France and sought refuge there in 2009.

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Four ways to get your employees “change fit”

2018-04-05

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There’s a reason why 84% of companies fail at digital transformation. Mike Perk, MD of WWC, shared four ways to future-proof your employees. Speaking at a recent Investec Cash Investments Business Matters event, Mike Perk, from digital transformation advisory firm World Wide Creative (WWC), highlighted four important steps to manage digital change in your organisation. …

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The Swiss National Bank owns more A-class Facebook shares than Zuckerberg

2018-04-05

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2018-04-05

Bumbleedee
At the end of March 2018, the Swiss National Bank (SNB), held 8.93 million A class shares compared to Mark Zuckerberg’s holding of 8.91 million, according to the newspaper Handelszeitung. However, most of Zuckerberg’s shares are B class shares, a class of shares which is not quoted and give the founder control of the business. Zuckerberg holds 393.9 million of these.

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Food consumes far less of Swiss budgets than it did 25 years ago

2018-04-03

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2018-04-03

Swiss Food Budget
Comparing the most recent statistics on Swiss consumer inflation to those in 1993 reveals a steep drop in the percentage of spending allocated to food. When statisticians calculate consumer price rises they look at the prices of a standard basket of goods. In 1993, food and non-alcoholic beverages made up 14.3% of the value of this standard basket. By 2018, the percentage had fallen to 10.4%, a 27% drop.

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Tax and spend – canton of Geneva generates a surprise budget surplus

2018-04-01

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2018-04-01

Geneva Finances
When Geneva’s finances make the news it is typically bad. At the end of 2016, the canton had debts of CHF 12.5 billion, equal to 153% of its income. In January 2018, the rating agency Standard and Poors gave Geneva a negative outlook citing risks related to the canton’s poorly funded public pension scheme.

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IMF forecasts 2.25 percent Swiss GDP growth in 2018 while pointing to risks

2018-03-29

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2018-03-29

Swiss Francs
A boost to investment and net exports from the tailwind of strong external demand, together with faster expansion of household spending owing to rising employment, are forecast to lift GDP growth to around 2¼ percent in 2018, said the IMF in a statement referring to Switzerland issued on 26 March 2018.

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Budget Speech 2018 – insights from Investec.

2018-03-29

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A panel of Investec experts summarises the outcomes of the 2018 Budget Speech, and the effects on business and the consumer. Journalist and political commentator, Justice Malala, chairs the panel consisting of Annabel Bishop, Investec chief economist; David Gracey, head of currency and derivatives trading at Investec Corporate and Institutional Banking (ICIB), and Ronelle Hutchinson, …

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Rising yields and inflation expectations in developed nations

2018-03-29

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Aside from the concern over governance at our SOEs, what are the biggest risks facing SA’s macro environment in 2018? Investec’s Ronelle Hutchinson says that even though the SA dynamic has improved, the global environment is shifting, and a rish factor for South Africa is the change in liquidity dynamic. Annabel Bishop adds: Looking at …

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Budget Speech 2018: Domestic risk assets attractive to foreign investors

2018-03-29

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Will SA benefit from the increasing popularity of emerging market equities? With emerging markets back in favour, Ronelle Hutchinson, Investec portfolio manager believes South African equities will also see investment. With recent positive developments, she says there is potential for inflows into the local equity market. Get more insights from the Investec #Budget2018 panel discussion …

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Budget Speech 2018 and the sluggish GDP growth in South Africa – insights from Investec

2018-03-29

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Are we in the losing zone? Celebrating 1.5% GDP growth shows how far we’ve fallen behind, says Investec’s David Gracey. He puts this down to the country missing out on a decade of activity. “1.5% does nothing for us; we’re farming backwards; our population growth is higher than that!” Get more insights from the Investec …

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Budget Speech 2018: VAT and the expected effects of the tax increases on the CPI

2018-03-29

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What is the impact on businesses and the consumer? CPI inflation is unlikely to drop below the 5% mark for the medium term, says Investec’s Annabel Bishop, so the Reserve Bank is not going to rush into any interest rate cuts. She adds that the VAT increase is a small one, which, on a global …

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Investec insights: Budget Speech 2018 and the president’s “New Dawn”

2018-03-29

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What’s more impoprtant? Ensuring that the rand is strong, or that we can meaningfully impact people’s lives? Investec’s David Gracey reminds us not to lose sight of what’s key for South Africa’s economy. The behaviour of the rand and interest rates are symptoms of the activity in the broader economy. What we need to hone …

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Maker of the Sniper’s Choice, makes the news – but what is the Swiss company RUAG?

2018-03-28

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2018-03-28

RUAG
The Swiss company RUAG made the news last week when investigators were called in to look at information relating to the sale of ammunition. But what is this company? According to RTS, the investigation revealed contracts for the sale of ammunition to Russia that had not been properly declared, RUAG triggered the investigation itself when a whistle blower reported irregularities and has filed a criminal complaint.

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