In a week marked by system challenges and global tension, Charles speaks openly about accountability, trust, and what he’s seeing unfold in markets through it all.
Before anything else, I need to address Monday's system outage.
Our systems let many of you down.
We experienced intermittent outages for a large part of the day, and that is not acceptable.
I apologise unreservedly.
When markets are volatile and risk is elevated, reliability matters even more. Trust is not built on good days. It is built on how you perform on difficult ones.
All hands are on deck. We are working through a full root cause analysis and remediation plan. We will provide a transparent report once we have the complete picture.
You entrust us with your capital.
We take that responsibility seriously.
Now, to the week that was.
It’s been one of those weekends where you wake up and the world feels slightly different.
Like many of you, I spent part of it toggling between markets, headlines, sports channels, WhatsApp groups and my own thoughts about where this is all going.
South Africans don’t experience markets from a distance.
When the rand moves, we feel it.
When commodities rally, the fiscus breathes.
When global risk rises, capital shifts.
And yet, in the middle of all that noise, something quietly powerful happened last month.
For the first time in our history, EasyEquities crossed R2 billion in deposits in a single month. We did it in 26 days.
In our first year, we raised R100 million.
What once took a year now happens in a single day.
When I saw that number, I didn’t think about growth rates or valuation. I thought about trust.
That is not growth. That is trust compounding.
It is millions of people choosing to build rather than consume.
To own rather than rent. To invest rather than simply hope.
That matters more than any index level.
If the chronology of this weekend’s events is known, a few things stand out to me.
Sovereignty feels different.
Military and economic power are asserting themselves faster than global institutions can respond. The old global order feels more fragile than it did a few years ago.
US military capability remains formidable. When it acts, it acts decisively. That reality will not be lost on leaders globally.
And with great power comes great responsibility.
That applies to military hardware.
It increasingly applies to AI.
This conflict reinforces something important.
The AI race is not just economic. It is strategic. Intelligence systems, data platforms and defence infrastructure are now deeply intertwined.
Oil spiked but did not explode. OPEC+ adding incremental supply matters. The Strait of Hormuz remains open. Containment remains the base case.
The sell-off feels orderly.
My stance is simple.
I am a cautious and selective buyer of risk into weakness rather than a seller into fear.
Gold continues to do its job.
Friday’s US session told its own story.
Inflation surprised on the upside.
Credit spreads widened.
Private credit showed strain.
Banks were hit hard.
Treasuries caught a bid.
The US 10-year slipped below 4 percent.
Return of capital is back in focus.
The AI theme is splitting.
Some hardware and infrastructure names surged.
Others were punished for margin pressure.
Pure-play disruptors are feeling direct AI competition.
This is not indiscriminate optimism. It is repricing.
South Africa increasingly feels like a physically and financially calmer place relative to parts of the world.
Precious metals remain supportive.
Banks have rallied strongly over the past month.
Resource names continue to attract capital.
The Budget quietly leaned pro-investing.
Tax brackets adjusted for inflation.
Capital gains exclusions increased.
The offshore discretionary allowance doubled from R1 million to R2 million.
Tax-free savings allowances increased.
Allowable retirement contributions increased.
Nothing revolutionary.
But participation was encouraged, not penalised.
More and more it feels like the survivor’s premium for staying, both living and investing in South Africa, is increasing and will do so for some time to come.
Currency ran a sharp piece this week mocking the idea that AI is about to trigger a human intelligence displacement spiral.
Markets briefly priced apocalypse.
Then you look at corporate behaviour.
Jack Dorsey cut nearly half of Block’s workforce and framed it around intelligence tools enabling smaller teams.
Both personalities exist.
Some dismiss AI. Some market AI. Some build with AI.
Only one compounds.
The future will be owned by those who lean into AI properly.
The first wave of displacement will affect individuals who ignore it.
The second wave will affect those who claimed to embrace it but created no measurable value.
AI increases output per person.
Those who compound that leverage will win.
For South Africa, productivity is not optional.
One statistic keeps coming back to me.
Data centre construction has surpassed office construction.
More capital is being deployed to house servers than people.
That tells you where the world is heading.
And it should signal to the leadership at EasyProperties that there is an opportunity worth finding for our investors too.
Over the weekend, EasyProperties launched its first offshore investment in Mauritius.
South African capital.
Global property exposure.
Disciplined structure.
We live here. We invest everywhere.
When I step back from all of this — the war, the AI race, the volatility — my thinking still comes back to the same place.
Trust compounds. Productivity pays. Participation rewards.
Markets will oscillate. Narratives will overreach. Fear will spike. That’s what markets do.
But disciplined builders win.
We live in South Africa, and we invest in a global world. The opportunity, as I see it, lies where those two meet.
So stay thoughtful. Stay deliberate.
Stay Savage,
Charles
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