OUR ANALYST OF THE WEEK- Monsef Morsy, head of research at CI Capital (Linkedin).

My name is Monsef Morsy and I’ve been working in sell-side research for the past 16 years. After graduating from Cairo University’s faculty of commerce, I began working at Pharos, where I eventually became their deputy head of research. I’m now head of research at CI Capital covering the banking and financial sector in MENA.

The best part of my job is definitely being — or trying to be — on top of everything that's happening locally and regionally and being able to formulate a forward view on a specific topic or event. That also requires the ability to be able to visualize the appropriate tool and, whenever possible, basing a view or outlook on scientific approaches. Whether I’m right or wrong, the process itself is fulfilling for me personally and I enjoy it.

There isn’t something I would underline as the worst part of my job, but there are challenges. The first challenge is the risk that views or calls I have on specific stocks and investments might not materialize, as stock performance is often impacted by speculation and unfounded fundamentals. The second challenge is how demanding working in investment banking and specifically research is. The industry is dynamic and you have to keep tabs on every development across the board.

Doing the job with the current lack of travel has been doable as everyone is adapting together to the new norm. Everything has become virtual on a global scale, so it's not odd that we’re not in face-to-face meetings at the moment. Hopefully this won’t last for much longer though, and I’m anticipating we might be back to normal as usual by next year.

The road show is definitely not dead. While we’ve gotten through this year with successful online conferences such as our 5th Annual MENA Investor Conference, the importance of having a physical conference with investors coming to meet corporates face-to-face is something we can’t let go of just yet. However, I do think that roadshows might become less frequent than they were pre-covid.

My theory of investment is to always look at the fundamentals. As long as a sector or company has a strong fundamental story and strong backing in financials, figures and ratios, I think that’s basically what makes an investment a good one.

I think my new slogan is “a system will bring success.” Everyone needs a system that governs the whole process of analysis, writing reports or reaching valuations. Having a system in place is very important and will help ensure you have a solid foundation when coming up and presenting your views. This applies to both your personal and professional life and it's the message I’d like to convey to my younger colleagues in the field and people who are interested in working in the sector.

I prefer a top-down approach when recommending a stock. This means looking at the macroeconomics of a country, then the specifics of the sector, and finally the business’s historical performance, financial statements, and main metrics. Every step of the process is important to reach a solid outlook on a stock.

We need to see more new ideas on the stock market. I would say more e-payment, health, ins. or education companies should be listed as they have great potential in the coming months and years. I’d also like to see more SME companies IPO, which could shift the overall dynamics of the market. We need more stories like Speed Medical, for example, which had a successful move up from the Nilex to the EGX last year. The current direction from the government is helping facilitate this, such as the recent central bank initiative to make accessing bank finance easier for MSMEs.

Egypt has a solid foundation going into 2021, but we’re not decoupled from what is going on globally. While the country’s macroeconomic figures are strong, the pandemic and global vaccination rollout is leaving many things uncertain for all countries, including Egypt. I think a well distributed rollout — where the vaccine is administered in all countries and not just a select few — would help reduce the risk of local issues and accordingly would support Egypt’s story in 2021.

I was a numbers person when I first started my career, but as I matured I started to value words on the same level. Being a good analyst isn’t just about understanding the numbers, but translating them into something more human. So it's about getting the numbers out there while also creating and marketing a story or idea. Today, I would say I’m both a numbers and words person.

The last great thing I read is Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins. As for things I watch, I normally tend to opt out of anything in the drama genre. I think life is too full of drama for me to add more when I decide to watch something. I recently watched the TV series Bns and really enjoyed it. I also listen to a lot of … let’s say upbeat music — which anyone who knows me will know is the opposite of my personality [laughs].

When I’m not on the clock, I try to spend time with family as much as I can. I’ve recently started to workout and I’ve been trying to make it part of my daily routine in the past few months. Getting off the chair and being active has really affected my mood as it brings me a lot of happiness. Finally, I’m a huge Al Ahly fan and watching football is a habit of mine I don’t think I’ll ever break.