Biznews Conference 6 – a world-class business and investing event in Hermanus

Biznews has created a premier South African business and investing conference hosted in the seaside town of Hermanus and attended by hundreds of delegates.

The conference is the brainchild of Biznews founder Alec Hogg. The first Biznews Conference was held in the Drakensberg, with a few dozen delegates.

The event showed tremendous growth. The sixth Biznews Conference, known as BNC#6, attracted over 500 delegates – well over double the number of BNC#5.

The popularity of the Biznews Conference can be attributed to its excellent speaker lineup and the event’s format.

There’s an hour for each speaker. They speak for 20 minutes, are interviewed by Hogg for 20 minutes, and the final 20 minutes are for questions from the floor.

This year’s event attracted the who’s who in the South African political, business, and investment space.

Politicians included DA leader John Steenhuisen, IFP President Velenkosini Hlabisa, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba, and BOSA leader Mmusi Maimane.

PA leader Gayton Mckenzie and the FF+’s Corne Mulder discussed the value of small parties and independent voices.

The speeches and answers were what you can expect from politicians ahead of a national election.

However, it was still good to hear from the horse’s mouth what their plans were to fix the country.

The best part of the conference was the political analysts, business leaders, and investment specialists.

RW Johnson and Frans Cronje gave an excellent overview of what to expect from the elections and where the country is heading.

They both expect the ANC to lose support and that a coalition would be needed for the party to remain in power.

Piet Viljoen, Cy Jacobs, and Magnus Heystek shared their investment advice in a breakaway session hosted by Bronwyn Nielsen.

Viljoen highlighted the risks associated with index trackers, like the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 ETFs, in an environment with lofty valuations.

He said many undervalued stocks on the JSE, like Argent Industrial and Calgro M3, offer good value with a big margin of safety.

Jacobs explained the value of hedge funds – like 36ONE’s long/short investment funds – to benefit during good and bad times.

He also highlighted that only a small percentage of fund managers can beat index trackers and how that influences investment decisions.

Magnus Heystek explained why he thinks it is a good idea for South Africans to invest offshore to protect their wealth.

He said structural problems caused poor returns for South African equity investors while international markets produced excellent returns.

Heystek said clients who followed his advice and externalised their wealth enjoyed excellent returns. They benefitted from the boom in international stock markets and the weakening rand.

Stafford Masie and Purple Group CEO Charles Savage discussed Bitcoin and what investors should look towards in future.

Another treat for delegates was high-profile business leaders, including Christo Wiese, Gerrie Fourie, and Sean Summers, sharing their views and stories.

Two prominent activists, Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage and crime fighter Ian Cameron, discussed the value of active corporate citizenry.

Other prominent speakers included Sean Peche, David Fraser, Jacques Conradie, Jan Oberholzer, GG Alcock, Mavuso Msimang, David Ansara, Anthea Jeffery, and Phil Craig.

What stood out was that the conference was as full on the second and third days as it was at the beginning. This is highly uncommon.

It showed that the conference format, location, and speakers were what South Africa’s business and investment community craved.

Alec, his wife Jeanette, and the Biznews team have created a world-class business conference hosted in the sleepy seaside town of Hermanus.