The past quarter was impacted by a conflation of macro and micro-economic events that resulted in several reversals in South African styles. The most notable factor was the on-again/off-again Iran war which in turn had a knock-on effect on the oil price, which led to significant upside revisions to future inflation. Notwithstanding the indirect impact to consumer confidence with higher at-the-pump prices and interest rates to boot, the inflation headwinds led to a massive unwind of the ever-so-popular gold, platinum and oil trade (all of which screened and screen strongly for momentum). As noted previously, last year was momentums moment in the sun. Unfortunately, change is constant and from being the best style on the JSE, momentum is now the worst! Simultaneously, the market scenery led to the revival of low vol, rand hedge and illiquid factors, all of which outperformed in Q2 2026. A key question is whether the results of Q2 are a signal of structural regime change or merely a short-lived reversal. At the time of writing, the current ceasefire (which isn’t much of a ceasefire, tbh) has led to clear passage through the strait of Hormuz, driving Brent prices to around USD70/per barrel, leading to reserve banks becoming less hawkish, which is ultimately good for shares, especially gold and PGM miners. As usual, our style report provides a data science driven view of forward style and equity market performance, however, our two favorite models diverge in their predictions. As stressed always, the best route for any investor is ensuring adequate levels of style diversification to weather any storm brought forth by Global and local escapades. Happy reading and stay safe!