South african politics members of the governing anc begin to vote on a new leader who will likely become president in next years election. A very positive morning across europe so far when we look at equity training. The stocks at 600 up nearly 1 right now a lot of green across the board. Lets take a look at the specific markets action across the continent. The foots see up 1. 5 . The cac ka rant in paris up and lets take a look at the specific sectors that are driving that positive movement this morning we can see from across the entire country the sectors, lets take a look at the numbers as they come through coming very shortly. Waiting for that foots see action there very slightlyup more than half a percent. Lets talk about whats going on in the United States so talking of taxes, President Trump has defended the 1. 5 trillion expected in cuts that could stem from the new tax reform bill. He said the economy, meanwhile, is going to, quote, start to rock the bill will create jobs and called it one of the greatest possible Christmas Gifts middle income americans will ever receive. He said it could slightly boost gdp in 2018 but its positive Economic Impact would later diminish the house and senate are set to vote later this week but they may have to do it without senator john mccain. President trumps tax ban will cut the tax rate from 35 to 21 if it passes our colleague dominic chu look at the sectors and companies that benefit mostly from that. If youre wondering what kinds of Companies Might actually benefit the most from any potential tax reform legislation that cuts corporate taxes, check out these industries the folks at Goldman Sachs took a look at the s p 500 and the sectors within it and looked at who pays the most in taxes effectively. So lets take the number ten end of the spectrum, the ones that pay the most in taxes. Possibly beneficiaries if taxes get cut. Bigger beneficiaries highest taxes are paid by the energy, 35 , telecom, 33 , industrial 32 , utilities 31 , consumer discretionary, 30 . Five year Median Income tax rates. Consumer staples, 30 , number four, financials, 28 number three, materials, 27. Health care at 26 and then the sector in the s p that pays the least in terms of taxes overall on average, the Technology Sector at only 24 if youre looking for the outsized beneficiaries, its the ones that pay already at least a lot of taxes right now, energy, telecom, utilities, industrials. That side of things. As for some stocks that could benefit, goldman has a box of 49 names, the high tax basket that pay the most among the names on that list, conoco phillips, goodyear, j. B. Hub 38 a sampling to give you the stocks were talking about as investors look at the tax and how to play it, some of those could be on this list here, guys. Were joined from zurich by the global chief investor for ubs. Weve seen health is a prospect of that driving Global Equities market do you think this bill as currently constituted will continue to do that . We definitely think as we enter the new year that Global Equities can go higher and if you look at the global index, of course, the u. S. Plays an important part in that tax reform as a first order of effect, it may have a small impact but theres lots of secondary effects. If the republicans can continue to deregulate in the United States, that can give a boost, but all of these factors are underpinned by global gdp growth, continued corporate Earnings Growth and the still stimulative Central Bank Policy around the world. Talk about europe, specifically europe versus u. K. Equities were looking at forecasts for the u. K. How will that weigh on the stocks in london well, we think that european equities should be overweight versus u. K. Equities because we believe a lot of the good things that would happen to the u. K. Due to the weakening of the pound have been transmitted through and youre not going to get that extra boost Going Forward. We also see the gains on the european side so on an over weight under weight basis we prefer europe. I want to switch out and talk about what youve written about in your latest monthly newsletter youve changed your tune when it comes to the idea of responsible investment this is not about you turning kinder in your old age, this is about trying to reduce risks when it comes to transparency accountancy, thats one of the reasons why you would try to stick with these more ethical investments, is that not about avoiding the bad actors that might get you into trouble one day . Well, i think that we have to be careful about the terminology here a little bit. I think what were trying to say is, you know, in the past th Corporate Responsibility of corporations was to make a lot of profits that goes back to what Milton Freeman said in 1970 i think the investment world has changed in part because of technology and other factors have led so much increased transparency about the environmental impact, the social impact and the governance factors around corporations and increasingly what were seeing is that our client base across the globe, both institutional and private is more interested in these factors and we think that Going Forward you do need to consider these factors. And on the one hand youre absolutely right, that any edge that we can get as investors to help us avoid bad actors is increasingly important today because the fines and penalties to those who break the public trust is greater but on the other hand we see those who are more inclient to think about these factors tend to kind of outperform at this time as investors gravitate towards those kinds of companies and consumers do as well. This is not about just avoiding pitfalls, this is about overall performance as well . Yeah. Weve seen, for example, a basket of equities that have greater diversity as measured by having, say, 20 of women in leadership positions is outperforming the msci world for numerous years running so the main message maybe is that people thought you had to sacrifice performance to be socially responsible and were seeing thats not the case you can actually potentially enhance your returns and diversify them by looking at sustainable factors in your investment decisions. I want to talk about some more of that later on. Thats mark from ubs hell stay with us this half hour i want to point you to cnbc. Com. Some of my colleagues put together a trading page. You can check that all out at cnbc. Com now vestas is getting a boost in base trade after they retained a key tax credit. There was concern it would cut its helping shares remain lost ground this is when the initial bands were announced meanwhile, u. S. Intelligence agencies helped russia have a terrorist ban. The cia tipped off their russian counterparts to an alleged terrorist plot in st. Petersburg russian president Vladimir Putin thanked President Trump for stopping the attack. They said they would share any information targeting americans. President trump said hes not considering firing special Counsel Robert Mueller after a fresh round of finger pointing over a fresh round from russias investigation. Muellers team allegedly obtained illegal emails muellers office has denied the allegation Nbcs Kelly Odonnell has more on that story. Reporter President Trump back from a weekend at camp david as his frustration over the russia probe surfaced in a new way. Mr. President , do you believe your Transition Team emails were improperly taken . Not looking good. Not looking good its quite sad to see that my people are very upset about it. Reporter surfaced in a new way, with a charge made by the president s Transition Team against special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation. Claiming prosecutors improperly obtained thousands of transition staff emails now being used in the russia probe. I cant imagine theres anything on them, frankly, because as we said, theres no collusion. Theres no collusion whatsoever, but a lot of lawyers thought that was pretty sad. Reporter election season to the inaugural, a trump transition worked in this government building using government provided email service but under the law Transition Teams are not government agencies. Most of their funding is private. A trump transition lawyer protested to congress claiming career staff at the federal governments General Services administration unlawfully produced the Transition Teams private materials, including emails bound by attorneyclient privilege to the special counsel. White house officials stayed out of it. Reporter a spokesman for Robert Mueller said when we have obtained emails we have obtained the account owners consent or appropriate criminal process. Credibility is appropriate for trump allies who seized on mueller removing a senior fbi agent who exchanged antitrump Text Messages with another agent during the campaign. While mueller is widely respected i do not at all believe that mr. Mueller has been compromised with his investigation. Reporter some republicans sounded alarm. I think these conflicts of interest jeopardize the integrity of his investigation. That was Kelly Odonnell of nbc news if you have any views on trump, mueller or any other issue, email the show. You can also tweet at us street signs cnbc. Live from johannesburg soon after this break welcome back to street signs. Americas sweet giant, hershey, they can be a canty giant is nearing a bid to buy the brands for 1. 6 billion it amplifies at 12 a share. A 71 premium. Its the latest in a series of deals by the confectionery maker. Cnbc sources say its possible negotiations could fall through. Shares in australia aconex have surged the cloud based project Management Firm said in a Stock Exchange filing that they had unanimously recommended the 7. 8 australian all cash offer which represents a 47 premium the deal is subject to shareholder approval at a meeting expected in march. Bhp and exxon mobil will end the joint venture. Theyre bowing to the watchdog as gas prices soar they said the joint agreement would have resulted in less competition in the market to supply gas to buyers in southern australian consumers French Defenseman thales has agreed to buy gemalto for 4. 8 billion uros a share theyre creating a top three player in the Global Digital security space the boards of both companies have unanimously backed thales bids its sent them to the top of the stock 600. Mark is still with us. Speaking of Company Boards there like those of thales and gemalto, they talk about the importance of gender diversity it, quote, serves as a proxy for good Corporate Governance practices. What does the evidence show it does for returns, meanwhile . Well, we found over a period of time that these more Diverse Companies can outperform the msci world index and, again, its another sign that investors need to look at these sustainable these esg factors as they start to invest because certainly the large Market Participants are taking note you use the model that when youre assessing investments, two women at the board level or 20 of women in executive management that model is hardly what youd call gender equal. Ubs has four out of 11 Board Members are female whats needed to make that diversity a guarantee of financial success, do you think . Well, there are no guarantees in finance i think its this is just merely one proxy for trying to adi mentions to investment analysis its both a symbol and a kind of specific number because as we get better data, you can do these kinds of searches and very easily look through Companies Across these kinds of dimensions in terms of gender diversity or other kinds of diversity and what were what weve been doing is trying to better use these databases of factors, both to look at our own investments and weigh the risks and opportunities but also to share with our clients and perhaps they have specific things that they are focused on, like say gender diversity is very important to them. We can give them that look through in their investments, which is an increasing value for them. We talk a lot, mark, about improved Data Availability are you referring to Historical Performance or other factors im not sure about here. Yeah, so whats happened now with the rise of xml and other factors is you can get better data on companies and how they score on literally hundreds of esg metrics and then weight those in investment processes and share that data with private clients who may have affinities for certain causes or concerns. One final question. Weve heard a lot recently about the rise of the activist investor what role do you think investors can have to force companies in a more inclusive manner, more environmentally aware manner, more sustainable manner . Well, force is a strong word. Activism has been around for a long time. I think related to this theme, as investors get that transparency and they see how companies are acting and say what their Carbon Footprint is, what weve seen is that there have been many kind of negotiations or mutual dialogue that is have Led Companies without proxy fights or other things to change their response, say, with regard to Getting Energy from carbonrelated sources because not because theyre forced to but because they realize that their employees and the consumers who use their products believe that that is the direction that a company should go and often theyre beginning to vote with their pocketbook when they have that information and so i think force is a strong word its certainly one end of the spectrum the other is a greater awareness that leads companies to act on their own. Mark, thank you for joining us from zurich now theresa may, the british Prime Minister, will give her formal assessment to the u. K. s parliament after the parliament decided to green light talks with the u. K she plans to tell them their plans for interim and longterm trading. She will share the desire to make rapid progress on a brexit program. She will say during this time brittain will not retain membership of the Single Market or Customs Union during that transition but it will allow businesses to continue operating under existing rules and regulations. The u. N. Security council, meanwhile, is set to vote today on a resolution calling for withdrawal of President Trumps recognition offer residential rus is a lems recognition as the capitol. Nikki haley, the American Ambassador of the u. N. Has praised President Trumps decision as the, quote, just and right thing to do. Israels main union has protested against teva protesters demonstrated outside the office of Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu teva announced they would cut 107,000 jobs in israel itself. In south africa the ruling anc is voting for a new leader to replace president zuma its a tight race. My colleague joins us from johannesburg this morning. What is the difference between the two candidates they both have major flaws reporter yes, they do. Both candidates come in it with a bit of past behind them. Ramarhosa has come in getting into business and now he is back in it has not made him very popular with those that do not have, which is most of the south african voting class hes largely seen as a business friendly capitalist but he is still viewed largely within the south african context as a better choice of nkosazan nkosazana dlamnizuma. Me is the exwife of president zuma she is largely said to have an achilles heel as having friends very close to president zuma shes seen as an extension, if you will, of his administration. Most people do not believe that herradical Economic Transformation policy will be radical. Its an extension of what is currently happening in the anc. Hes running as the anticorruption candidate. If he wins will that help the deviivisivenes divisiveness reporter very good question that we have been debating amongst ourselves here and i have asked numerous anc about the matter of corruption they all come from the same movement they all belong to the anc there will be some consideration even if he wanted to move quickly with regards to state capital. Because there will be anc picking up figures that are still loyal to president jacob zuma and do not like seeing him go to prison for what is alleged corruption i expect we will probably not have anything radical in terms of addressing state capital at least within the first year. The problems themselves will not go away and, therefore, president would be president ramaphosa will have to address it the exwife of the current president , we know she doesnt quite seem to have much fervor to addressing the issues i think she used these things likely as organizational problems that can be solved internally and on the hush, not necessarily on a public scale. So the two candidates, if anything, one appears more open to the