There is an old saying about throwing the baby out with the bathwater and while the exact origin of the phrase is uncertain, the meaning is clear in that it suggests an avoidable error where something good is tossed out in haste to get rid of somethi
Came across another case of what I think is one of the worst examples of “bad practice” in our industry…a retirement annuity through a life insurance company with a term beyond age 55 and with a 20% escalation on the premium. While I accept that the
For some reason I have had a lot of enquiries in the past few weeks about the minimum amounts that one can invest on a monthly and/or lump sum basis. The enquiries all seem to be of the view that investing is out of the range of the “little guy” and
I was recently asked by the editor of Finweek what I thought of Sanlam's "new" RA. Here is my response: “On a level, Sanlam could be applauded for trying to encourage saving for retirement in SA. However, it is my belief that anyone that can offer
We were treated to an excellent meal at Pomegranate Restaurant at Vergenoegd wine estate near to Stellenbosch yesterday. It was a stunning day in Cape Town and we sat outside and afterwards we were treated a rather unusual sight; a duck parade! The f
I had an interesting meeting with a young client recently who was at great pains to tell me that he had managed to get off the company pension fund because they were taking too much money off his salary each month and the fund was far too boring for
The following is a piece I did for Finweek in response to a question from a reader.... Investment for a 26 year old. Broadly speaking, there are 2 things that impact the return of an investment over time. They are: Asset allocation, and F
You have a couple of hundred rand per month that you would like to invest and you have decided that you want to go the passive or index option. You like the idea of DIY and on top of that you are cost sensitive…you have also heard that unit trusts ar
Just under 6 years ago, ASISA (Association of Savings and Investments in South Africa) launched what should have been a really exciting education savings initiative called Fundisa. The idea was to provide a unit trust alternate to the traditional ins
Broadly speaking, there are 2 things that impact the return of an investment over time. They are: Asset allocation, and Fees When it comes to the retirement space, government seems hell-bent on targeting the issue of fees but does not appear
•Asset Allocation Strategy
•Investment Research and Selection
•Local and Offshore Investing
•Tax Efficient Planning
