The performance of value versus growth stocks on the JSE during and post the financial crisis

The value-growth investment style is a popular strategy for obtaining abnormal returns. However, limited research has been done on how value and growth stocks perform during periods of economic downturn, particularly in emerging economies. The 2008 financial crisis has been named one of the worst recessions. By the end of February 2009, it accounted for a destruction of equity worth $29 trillion worldwide. This study focused on the performance of value versus growth stocks on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), during and post the financial crisis period. This was done by evaluating the general performance of value versus growth stocks and the performance of these stocks based on market size. Value stocks were defined as those constituting the lowest 30% Price to Book ratios on the JSE All Shares Index (ALSI). On the other hand, growth stocks comprised of shares with the highest 30% Price to Book ratios. The stocks were further divided by market capitalisation (cap) using the ALSI Top 40 (Large cap), Medium cap and Small cap indices. A one year holding period was used such that portfolios were reconstructed annually using the relevant ALSI constituents. Total Returns were used in the analysis in order to capture the contribution of both capital gains and dividend income. The results from Student’s t-test and the Mann-Whitney U test showed that there were no statistical significant differences between value and growth stocks returns on the JSE during the financial crisis period. Despite this, the trend implied that value stocks outperform growth stocks, but investing in the JSE ALSI produces relatively higher returns than value and growth stocks during crisis periods. This is useful to investors since small percentage differences may amount to significant monetary values. On the other hand, post the financial crisis period, overall return differences showed that growth stocks performed better than value stocks and the market. However, the results were statistically significant in only one of the three years. The study also found that the analysis of value versus growth stocks by size provides further explanations on their annual performance

Moving beyond the front line: a 20-year retrospective cohort study of career trajectories from the Indigenous Health Program at the University of Queensland

This report examines critical success factors for enabling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership across the health system as demonstrated by alumni of the University of Queensland (UQ) Indigenous Health Program (IHP) (1994–2005) who today work in various leadership roles throughout the country.\ua0It determines the enablers of professional success of these health leaders in various facets of the health system and investigates the impact of active participation in the community of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professionals over the course of a career. Through this analysis, the report further theorises the confluence of community, subjectivity, self-determination and health

Submission to Productivity Commission Inquiry into an Indigenous Evaluation Strategy

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Monitoring changes in power, speed, agility and endurance in elite cricketers during the off-season

The purpose of this study was to monitor changes in power, speed, agility and endurance in elite cricketers during the 20-week off-season period. Fourteen elite male cricketers (age 26.2 ± 5.3years; height 180.8 ± 8.5cm; mass 83.5 ± 6.7kg) conducted a physical testing battery in week 1 and week 18 of the off-season period. The testing included a yoyo intermittent recovery test (yoyo IRT), bilateral and unilateral countermovement jumps (CMJ), squat jump (SJ), broad jump (BJ), drop jump (to calculate reactive strength index – [RSI]), pro agility and 5, 10, 20m sprint tests. Results showed significant improvements (p < 0.05) in all fitness tests except for the pro-agility test (p = 0.076), with effect sizes ranging from 0.26-2.8 across the test battery. The results of this study show the off-season in cricket allows adequate time for significant improvements of physical qualities needed for the demanding in-season schedule of the sport and provide normative values for an elite cricket population

Living with diabetes: rationale, study design and baseline characteristics for an Australian prospective cohort study

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a major global public health threat. In Australia, as elsewhere, it is responsible for a sizeable portion of the overall burden of disease, and significant costs. The psychological and social impact of diabetes on individuals with the disease can be severe, and if not adequately addressed, can lead to the worsening of the overall disease picture. The Living With Diabetes Study aims to contribute to a holistic understanding of the psychological and social aspects of diabetes mellitus

Philosophically thinking through COVID-19

In their recent article, ‘Who gets the ventilator in the coronavirus pandemic?’, bioethicists Julian Savulescu and Dominic Wilkinson note that we may soon be faced with a situation in which the demand for medical resources is greater than what is available. At that point, decisions about who gets what medical resources ought to be just, they argue. The trouble with the article however, is that the two men seem to approach our present crisis as though it were just that, a present tense phenomenon. They view COVID-19 not as a something that has emerged over time as a result of our social configuration and political choices, but as something that appeared out of nowhere, an atemporal phenomenon