On the verge of 2016!

At this time of the year we are all looking forward to shaking off 2015 and ready to embrace the New Year. But what will it have in store for us? My uncle always says that it is best we don’t know, yet I feel a little bit of info wouldn’t hurt, would it? I mean just enough info so that we could be slightly better prepared, or maybe better positioned to take on whatever comes our way.

Our economists are not painting a pretty picture for 2016. Mike Schussler, director of economists.co.za, said that the country could shift into a recession early in 2016 due to the drought, low commodity prices and visa restrictions. (source: www.fin24.com). Emerging markets economist Peter Montalto of Nomura also forecasts a tough year for SA’s economy and even mentions a possible presidential recall.

But we at SilverBridge Holdings predict 2016 to be a year of tremendous opportunity for us and our subsidiaries. We are endeavouring to gain exposure in new markets with some exciting new product and service offerings. We also see the insurance world changing rapidly in response to digitalisation trends and cloud computing. As customers become more adamant about using the most convenient channel at the time, an extensive assortment of digital initiatives are being introduced. We have observed the strong entry of banks, retailers and telecommunications into the insurance space, as well as the tightening up of the regulations. We are concentrating our efforts on understanding these trends in order to pro-actively adapt our business models.

So let’s raise our glasses to new beginnings, new challenges, and most of all new opportunities!