GT Investment Forum: where everyone learns about the stock market

Purple Group CEO Charles Savage (right) shares a joke with marketing manager Almero Oosthuizen (left) and CN&CO’s Carel Nolte

There are those who are financially inclined and those who aren’t, but anyone can make money on the stock exchange. This message came through clearly at last night’s GT Investment Forum at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange auditorium in Sandton.

The event took the form of a panel discussion between some very clever financial people affiliated with Purple Group, the holding company of EasyEquities, GT247.com, GT Private Broking and Emperor Asset Management. These are some of the highlights of what they said:

Mark Barnes, Purple Group chairman, shared his views on free education in South Africa – education as an investment rather than a consumer of funds. He also spoke about the impact a scandal like the VW emissions debacle and the MTN fine in Nigeria can have, not only on a company’s share price but also on its brand image.
Mpho Maile, Purple Group analyst, highlighted the importance of interrogating research and reminded guests that “no one is smarter than the market as a whole”.
Technical analyst Colin Abrams educated the audience at a very high level on trend-spotting using graphs – a.k.a. technical analysis – pointing out when it’s likely to be a good to buy and sell specific stocks.
Fundamental analyst Mark Ingham’s contribution to the discussion centred on individual company information as a driver of share price. He spoke passionately about the need for all South Africans to have access to quality institutional research and the ability to buy shares on the JSE easily and inexpensively. He also rated the JSE highly as a “good global earning stream”, adding that there’s no need to look offshore in order to make good equity investments.

The forum was hosted by top financial journalist and TV talk show host Giulietta Talevi, who rated the event very highly. “There’s a massive need for educational events such as the GT Investment Forum,” she said. “Purple Group has hit on the perfect formula.”

The GT Investment Forum filled the JSE Auditorium to capacity

CN&CO worked closely with the Purple Group marketing team in organising the event, which was hailed as an unmitigated success.

“This is the second GT Investment Forum that we’ve run for Purple Group, and each one has been very well received,” says CN&CO’s Josie Dougall. “We were delighted to have our team here in full force, represented by Carel Nolte, Colin Ford, Gianluca Tucci, Rob Christian and Gabbi Brondani, who assisted with social media and blogs on a number of platforms.

“It was great to see Michelle Padayachee and Lizelle van der Merwe from Fulcrum in the crowd, as well as our Purplista friends Charles Savage, Almero Oosthuizen, Brad Leather, Nilan Morar, Olli Russell, Paul Chakaduka, Paul Khweyane, Tristan Finnemore, Josh Nuttall, Brad Kaplan, Phumlani Mthethwa, Lee Scott, Zandile Nkomo, Raymond Chorn, Nomhle Dlala, Olav Zietsman, Martin Harris, Piru Harington, Paul Jansen van Vuuren, Waylon Smit and Nkulie Gwala.”

As you can see from this long list, the guys who work at Purple Group really get behind their events and support the company’s efforts to market the various brands and educate their clients.

“Purplistas take it personally,” says Josie. “They devote a lot of energy and effort – personal and professional – to supporting their brands and making every client interaction positive and memorable. This is one of the reasons we love working with them, and undoubtedly why their business is such a phenomenal success.”

The next GT Investment Forum will be held in early 2016.

“The forum is an amazing place to come and learn about trading and investment tricks, regardless of how experienced you are in the markets,” says Josie.