South Africa’s top stock pickers in 2022

Jacques Bartleman • 12 December 2022

The South African stock pickers who achieved the best performance in 2022 are Ricus Reeders from PSG Wealth, Lonwabo Maqubela from Perpetua, and Annatjie Van Rooyen from My Wealth.

2022 was a brutal year for markets, with the S&P 500 declining by 17% and the JSE All Share Index basically flat.

Runaway inflation, rising interest rates, the war in Ukraine, energy uncertainty, and recession fears have caused havoc in financial markets.

In South Africa, political instability and the rand’s volatility created additional uncertainty, making it challenging for investors to find safe havens for their money.

The rising interest environment and bear market made it difficult for fund managers and analysts to generate returns this year.

In response to the uncertainty, many financial advisers told their clients to stick with money markets, bonds, gold, and defensive stocks until the markets recover.

However, many experienced investors who have been through a crushing bear market, like the one experienced this year, see it as an opportunity.

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman, for example, said it is a good time to invest in high-quality companies.

“Today is a good time to buy stock and a good entry point,” Ackman said.

He equated it to March 2020, when stock prices plummeted and offered investors a great opportunity to buy good companies at low valuations.

“This is another good moment. I don’t know how well you are going to do over the next six or twelve months, but over the next few years, it is a good place to be an investor,” he said.

Many South African investors have been able to pick quality companies which generated good returns in 2022 despite the market conditions.

To see which fund managers and analysts performed the best, Daily Investor recorded all their stock picks between January 2022 and December 2022.

We then calculated the performance of these shares up to 9 December and tracked their performance against the S&P 500 and JSE Top 40.

We calculated the relative performance against the S&P 500 and JSE Top 40 over the same holding period as each stock pick to assess the performance.