Premium: Paul Harris dusts off his FirstRand playbook – a quarter century later

NEW TODAY – If you'be been struggling to access the BizNews Breakfast Briefing via Spotify or iTunes, try out brand new video version with Lucy, graphics and comment – on BizNews TV on YouTube. Click here). .Or, click here for the BBB audio-only podcast: More good news on US inflation; MTN shares rocket on interims but it gets another suitor for Telkom; Peche exposes big fees at Big Three unit trusts; A boost for Biden. .___STEADY_PAYWALL___.Just over two years ago, I hosted FirstRand's founders Paul Harris, Laurie Dippenaar and GT Ferreira in a truly memorable webinar. It was our first blockbuster webinar with over 1 000 people attending the live event and ten times as many watching the recording. The content has aged well. .Ironically it was Harris, youngest and most tech-savvy of the trio, who had technical issues. So the audience never got to see his face. But he, too, has aged well. And not being on camera that day didn't affect his contribution to the injection of wisdom from three of SA's most successful entrepreneurs ever..While Dippenaar and Ferreira have officially retired, Harris showed us yesterday that he's still very much in the game. He announced a seemingly audacious bid to merge youthful data-only telecom company rain with former communications monopoly Telkom, officially 30 years old, but whose roots go back to 1910. Although privatised and listed on the JSE, the State still owns 40.5% of Telkom's shares. .Last year Telkom's EBITDA was R12bn. Rain's was R1bn. Telkom employs 12 000 people, around a dozen times more than it's proposed merger partner. The immediate reaction of many would be to regard this as a proposed mating by a mouse with an elephant. But so it seemed with the cornerstones of FirstRand – Harris and Co's RMB was just 11 years old – the venerable FNB founded in 1864. That one turned out well. Maybe this one will too. .More for you to read today: .Ramaphosa's failures are his successes. Douglas Gibson says President's true failure is not moving on sensible reforms that could better SA.The Bursting Chinese Housing Bubble Compounds Beijing's Economic Woes. Home sales and prices are dropping in many cities across the country after rising for years, and the damage is spreading.CDC Drops Quarantine Recommendation After Covid-19 Exposure. Settings including schools no longer need to screen for the virus among people without symptoms, the agency says.Mar-a-Lago Search Shows the Swamp's Trump Obsession. An FBI raid against a former president should never happen. End of discussion..In this powerful expose' of a R320bn ripoff, straight-shooting financial insider Sean Peche says despite massive underperformance, SA's Big Three Balanced Fund unit trusts are harvesting billions every year from clients via management and 'performance' fees. The mushrooming of these funds into R100bn giants, is driven by marketing and profits, and has nothing to do with returns to savers – which have been pathetic. The fiercely independent founder of UK-based Ranmore Funds says it's high time SA's savers accepted their best protection against market volatility is not through abdicating to a guaranteed loser like these big Balance Funds – but by taking responsibility, adopting a long-term approach and keeping a close eye on costs. Peche, who is based in London, will be delivering a keynote address at the 4th BizNews Conference to be held at Champagne Sports Resort in the Drakensberg at the end of August..NB FOR YOUR WALL STREET JOURNAL ACCESS….As a Premium subscriber you are entitled to full membership of wsj.com (normal price $29 a month). Be sure to action your access through the Premium link on the BizNews website. Because of The Wall Street Journal's credential requirements, be sure to create a password which has at least 8 characters and includes at least one letter and one number – NB it MAY NOT contain any special characters (ie #, !, @ etc). To maintain access to WSJ.com, you MUST enter our partner's website via Biznews Premium at least once a month. A final PS, if you had previously signed up for WSJ you'll need to clear the cookies from your device. Our helpdesk can assist – support@biznews.com.

Premium: Paul Harris dusts off his FirstRand playbook – a quarter century later

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