Decreasing interconnect fees was supposed to lower telecoms costs, promote competition and create world peace. It’s done none of these because the logic underlying it was flawed. Analysts focused on interconnect as an expense, happily ignoring the revenue side (since it was a fee paid to another company within the industry). Never has a telecoms…
According to a Fin24 story this morning, the FSB is probing smaller unit trusts. The economics of a fund manager depends entirely on growing funds under management so that revenues (based on assets under management) grow to be larger than costs (significantly fixed and at most semi-variable). Details of performance fees and the second order…
The New York Times has a fascinating article about “Why are so many people in their 20s taking so long to grow up?“. It deals with the broader issue of how and when young adults move through phases of adulthood and how this has changed over the last 40 years. It’s based on US research,…
Since my recent post outlining how the distraction Eskom’s proposed higher charges distracted us from more important considerations such as their underlying efficiency, new evidence has emerged validating another point from my original post, Mumbling in the Dark. The DA has released a confidential report outlining how Eskom has been selling heavily discounted electricity, sometimes…
Interconnect fees and the reasons for their reduction are possibly the most misunderstood “big” news story over the last twelve months. The hype and hoopla around this topic is fueled by our feelings as consumers of being charged too much big big monopoly companies. So I should start by saying that I’m not saying that…
After my last post around common misunderstandings of how medical schemes operate, I saw a Fin24 article on South African medical schemes that are below the required minimum solvency. What Fin24 readers had to say Nolulamo Matutu from Fin24 writes: Acting CEO of the CMA Patrick Matshidze told MPs 18 schemes have fallen below the…
photo credit: johnnyalive A reader has some news, potentially about Rudie Visagie and another Rudco-style plan. Neither I nor the reader are sure about the details yet, but the story sounds all-too-familar. I read your article on the web when i googled Rudy Visagie. How very interesting to note all concerns people are having about…
Profit margins are being squeezed by decreased spending power of consumers. That is true, but it is also not the full story. Competitive pressures, buyer and supplier power dictate sustainable margins in the medium to long term. photo credit: abooth202 Fin24.com has a story this morning around Shoprite’s results and pricing strategy going forward. The…
