The FM Ranking the Analysts survived a near-death experience. It was brought back to life because of the clear message from the market that it is needed and wanted.
When the research did not run in 2025, our inboxes and WhatsApps lit up. The feedback made it clear that the awards are important to the health of capital markets in South Africa. They provide a visible benchmark of excellence and bring transparency to investment research in the South African markets. As Niel Venter, head of equity research at Absa, puts it: “An independent and highly credible survey is of utmost importance to the perceived sophistication and quality of the South African market and market participants.”
We heard you. The fundamental problem with the awards was that the business model that had sustained it since 1974 was dead. It had relied primarily on print advertising, which had been dwindling for two decades. As that happened, the research process and awards were starved of resources, leading us to conclude that it was no longer possible to deliver the awards at the necessary level of credibility.
But the reaction from the market made clear that it was the business model that was dead, not the value the awards delivered.
So, in consultation with the analyst community, we set about reconstructing a business model that would ensure not only the viability of the awards but also an improved research exercise that achieves the aim of delivering a highly credible assessment of research performance.
The business model is now based on membership, through which member stockbroking and research firms contribute to covering the costs alongside sponsors. However, the awards remain a comprehensive research exercise covering the entire market, so all brokers and researchers can be voted for by asset managers, not only the members who help fund it.
The rankings measure how effectively sell-side research teams are influencing investment decisions. That work is fundamental to the quality of capital markets — without research, market efficiency is blunted. The awards are important to the health of financial markets in South Africa. That is why the JSE was quick to partner with the FM and Krutham to support the awards and is now a key partner in their sustainability.
As Tim Clark, head of equity research at SBG Securities, puts it: “The awards contribute to the quality and attractiveness of sell-side research and, as a result, are important contributors to market efficiency and liquidity of the JSE. We welcome the awards back, constantly innovating to provide the most accurate reflection of the contribution of individual analysts and firms to South Africa’s stockbroking industry.”
Global investor sentiment towards South Africa has been resilient despite the worldwide headwinds facing all economies
Of course, being adaptive to shifting environments has been critical across the industry. South Africa’s capital markets have ebbed and flowed with global events. Many have bemoaned the decline in the number of listed companies on the JSE; some have seen this as a signal that markets are waning.
But the data shows something different. Value traded, the key indicator for those paid by commission, has risen strongly, whatever the performance of the domestic economy. Volumes began rising in 2014 as the Zuma government’s impact on the economy and government finances was accelerating, culminating in Nenegate at the end of 2015. The ensuing volatility kept volumes high, with 2020 delivering a peak volume of R7-trillion in value traded as the pandemic kept investors on their toes, according to Refinitiv data.
Volumes have stayed high, with value traded from 2016 to 2025 being almost double that of the five years before that and quadruple that of the first five years of the 2000s. This year is on course to break all records, with R6.2-trillion already traded year to date. We are on course for a record trading year.
Unlike the uncertainty that drove volumes through Covid and the end of the Zuma presidency, this activity appears to be motivated by South Africa’s relative safe-haven status in a chaotic world. Unlike many other places, the economy is on an improving trajectory. High commodity prices mean that recovery is less vulnerable to short-term demand shocks or the chaos of international trade policy.
For over a decade South Africa was caught up in negative emerging markets sentiment, compounded by the fiscal and economic waste of the Zuma years. It has taken a great deal of work to recover the institutions and implement the structural reforms necessary to turn the country’s trajectory around.
But that is now starting to happen. Ratings agencies’ moves are an obvious external validation in response to the improving fiscal performance. But global investor sentiment towards South Africa has been resilient despite the headwinds facing all economies. You can see it in the rand, in strong bond yields and in a stock market performance that has often been better than in other emerging markets.
An improving outlook matters directly for the rankings. A healthier, more active market generates more research, more votes and a more meaningful assessment of who is doing the best work. There is reason for optimism about South Africa’s future — and the FM Ranking the Analysts is here to help build it.
Theobald is chair of Krutham
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.