OUR ANALYST OF THE WEEK- Sherif El Etr, equity analyst at Prime Holding (LinkedIn).

My name is Sherif El Etr and I’m a sell-side equity analyst at Prime Holding. I’ve been in this role for around a year and half now and I cover consumers and NBFS. My previous experience was as an asset and liabilities management analyst at the National Bank of Egypt and before that I was working at a corporate. I knew that I wanted to be in the finance and investment field so the bank was my jumping-off point and I also decided to take the CFA. I passed level one and now I’m studying for level two.

The best part of my job is getting to know more about companies and the markets. The valuations are my favorite part and the reason I was excited about being in a finance-related job. It’s a lot of exposure and every detail about a company allows you to see the bigger picture about the market.

The worst part of my job is that you give recommendations, but you personally can’t take any action. You see value and potential growth, but you can’t move towards it or execute your own strategy. The investor has the final say in whether they’ll trust your judgement and you have to accept that.

Work from home was good for my productivity. For me it was a positive experience as I could focus better and of course there was the added benefit of no commute. But everything has a good and bad side and in this case the biggest con was that working hours were extended.

My theory of investment is inspired by Warren Buffett. I agree with his strategy of long-term investments that use fundamentals as their basis. When you invest, you become a loyal shareholder that is a believer in the value of the stock they’ve invested in. That’s why you need to be confident and well-informed about the investments you seek.

The most important factor I look at before recommending an investment is the firm’s ability for continuous growth and value creation. Companies need to have an edge to outpace peers and if the management feels like they’re reaching maturity in the business cycle, they need to make a new curve by introducing new products or services or innovating their existing offerings. That being said, there are a lot of factors to consider when assessing a company including financials, operations, business models, and more.

I think the EGX30 closing in the green this year is conditional on whether foreign investors come back to the market. It could remain in the green, but there are always fluctuations. However, these fluctuations are very minor compared to other countries where the main index went up or down significantly in the past year. The market is stable, but I think that foreign investors coming back to what they consider blue chip stocks could be a catalyst for the EGX30 to perform better, especially since the market has a lot of undervalued stocks with upside potential in terms of valuation.

I do think 2022 could be the year of Egypt. Globally, there are a lot of implications from the pandemic such as inflation and commodity prices, but Egypt has rode that wave steadily and even achieved positive GDP growth in 2020. With growth expected to accelerate in the coming years, I think that when things normalize around the world, Egypt will receive a boost that will allow it to outpace forecasts and other EMs. We’ll probably start seeing this in 2H2022.

If I had to cover another sector, I would go for real estate. It’s interesting and it has completely different financial and business models. At one point, I’d like to go into buy-side research, private equity, or venture capital. I’m attracted to the prospect of value creation and knowing the right time to exit an investment.

The last great thing I watched was Squid Game. I watched it before all the spoilers came out all over social media, so it really took me by surprise. I felt like it held a very important message: that you could believe that pursuing something will bring you happiness and comfort, but that’s not always the case. I also really loved the score.

The last great thing I read was Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. I like reading about finance and how people decide on investment strategies.

I mostly listen to podcasts and watch things on YouTube that have to do with the English Premier League. I’m a huge Arsenal fan “lel asaf” [laughs] and I keep up to date with everything about the club. The things I listen to are ESPN, Fabrizio Romano, Younes Talks Football, and AFTV. Other than that, I play a lot of Call of Duty: Warzone when I’m not studying for the CFA.

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The EGX30 rose 0.7% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 1.58 bn (3.6% above the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is up 3.8% YTD.

In the green: Fawry (+6.8%), Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals (+6.6%) and AMOC (+4.8%).

In the red: Madinet Nasr Housing (-9.0%), Gadwa Industrial Development (-6.4%) and Egypt Resorts Company (-6.4%).