Anton van Deventer- Financial Adviser

Anton van Deventer- Financial Adviser updated their website address.

I recently expanded my practice to include PPS Personal Lines and Commercial short-term insurance. It was quite an eye-opener when I realised that many PPS members do not even know that PPS offers short-term insurance tailor-made for professionals, very often at a lower premium. Health Professionals Indemnity is another area where PPS excels with VAT on premiums reclaimable because PPS is a South African company.
You are welcome to contact me for a comparison.

From March 1 this year, all pension funds in South Africa were required to offer a post-retirement solution to their members. In other words, they had to give them, as an option, a way to turn the money they had saved inside the fund into an income without taking it out.
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Getting the best of both worlds in retirement Hybrid annuities can now be used within pension funds.

For the first time in well over a decade, the number of actively managed unit trusts in South Africa declined in 2018. However, the overall number of collective investment schemes in the country (unit trusts and exchange-traded funds) still went up. This is because of continued strong growth from passive or rules-based solutions.
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Structural shifts in the unit trust market The growth in passive products continues, while the number of active funds stalls.

For several years now South African investors have received little reward for taking risk – particularly those invested in South African equities and/or listed property companies. Those invested in low or high equity (regulation 28 compliant, pre-retirement capital) funds and portfolios haven’t been much better off due to disappointing returns over the past five years. The poor returns can be attributed to a range of factors, with limits on offshore allocations combined with disappointing local equity returns at the fore.
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Why investors should remain patient and avoid the perils of performance-chasing To quote billionaire investor Warren Buffet, ‘the investor of today does not profit from yesterday's growth’.

As a client of financial services products, it is important that you understand the new developments in the realm of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR). The FSB, now called the FSCA, published several RDR progress reports, updated proposals and specific regulatory measures through different regulatory tools.
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Liberty | A leading financial services group We are a leading financial services organisation that understands the value of knowledge and its power to change realities when set in action. Visit our new website at http://www.liberty.co.za to enquire about our tailor-made Risk and Investment solutions for you or your business' needs.

Given how poorly many parts of the JSE have performed for some years now, a number of local asset managers have been talking about the value they are seeing in certain South African companies
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How to spot value traps on the JSE SA stocks may look cheap, but some may be cheap for a reason.

Investors in South Africa probably feel that they already have plenty to worry about. Low market returns, a struggling economy and ongoing political uncertainty make this a tricky environment.
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Six trends investors should watch Changes in the world that could have major impacts on returns.

The CEO of the Stringfellow Group, Thomas Stringfellow, handed himself over to police at the Honeydew Police Station in Johannesburg on Thursday morning. His arrest follows allegations that he may have misappropriated hundreds of millions in client funds.

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Well-known financial advisor Thomas Stringfellow arrested Hands himself in over missing client money.

The world’s biggest money manager is battening down the hatches heading into the third quarter, raising cash and taking a “modestly” more defensive investing stance.
“The key change in our outlook is that we now see trade and geopolitical frictions as the principal driver of the global economy and markets,” BlackRock Investment Institute concluded in its mid-year 2019 outlook.
https://www.iol.co.za/personal-finance/investment-blackrock-battens-down-the-hatches-29029161

INVESTMENT: Blackrock battens down the hatches | IOL Personal Finance The world’s biggest money manager is battening down the hatches heading into the third quarter, raising cash and taking a ...

Financial emigration, also known as formal emigration, is the process of changing your South African resident status with the Reserve bank to that of a non-resident. Apart from the obvious benefit to South Africans of protecting themselves from certain local taxes and currency volatility, one of the most important benefits is that retirement savings and annuities can be withdrawn and transferred offshore, even if the person is under the age of 55.
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Financial emigration demystified It's important to look at the whole picture.

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Just as we look to doctors for guidance on our health, we seek direction from financial advisors when it comes to our wealth. Yet, just as many doctors failed to act on the evidence of the obvious danger posed by smoking, many financial advisors are not seeing the evidence about how to deliver the best investment outcomes for clients.

Are your financial advisor’s unhealthy beliefs affecting your money? Lessons from the world of medicine.

Retirement funds are extremely vulnerable to cyber crime, and if funds do not take significant measures to boost protection, an attack on a major retirement fund within the next five years to 10 years is almost inevitable, warns Viresh Maharaj, the chief executive for corporate sales and marketing at Sanlam.
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Retirement funds ‘are extremely vulnerable to cyber crime' | IOL Personal Finance Retirement funds are extremely vulnerable to cyber crime, and funds need to take significant measures to boost protection.

One of the toughest problems retirees face is making sure their money lasts as long as they do.

From the US to Europe, Australia and Japan, retirement account balances aren’t increasing fast enough to cover rising life expectancy, the World Economic Forum warns in a report published Thursday. The result could be workers outliving their savings by as much as a decade or more https://www.moneyweb.co.za/mymoney/retirement/retirees-risk-running-out-of-money-a-decade-before-death/

Retirees risk running out of money a decade before death Retirement account balances globally aren’t increasing fast enough to cover rising life expectancy, according to WEF report.

Of the 102 unit trusts and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) categorised as South African general equity funds, only 19 delivered annualised returns above inflation for the five years between May 1, 2014 and May 31, 2019:http://ow.ly/RQVp50uJGM5

Only 19 local equity funds have beaten inflation over five years Dividend funds show particular resilience.

The Comrades Marathon held each June and known as the Ultimate Human Race, sees runners embarking on a gruelling 89km between the cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg.
“Investors can learn from marathon runners when preparing for the ‘ultimate human race’ - that is, retiring financially independent,” says Belinda Carbutt, group savings specialist at Allan Gray and avid runner.http://ow.ly/uC7Z50uz39O

Investment lessons from Comrades runners | IOL Personal Finance Investors can learn from marathon runners when preparing for the ‘ultimate human race’ - that is, retiring financially independent.

When considering the reasons for people retiring with insufficient capital, underexposure to equity and offshore does not feature high on the list.
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The Regulation 28 debate ignores a crucial point 'Surprise! The returns reported by mutual funds aren’t actually earned by mutual fund investors.' - John C Bogle.

In the first four months of 2019 the MSCI World Index was up 16.7%. That was biggest gain markets had seen at the start of any year for three decades.

“There was a lot of positivity around global equity markets at the start of the year,” says Nadir Thokan, portfolio manager at 27four Investment Managers. “Up to the end of April, we had seen the strongest start to global equity markets since 1987.”

This run surprised many investors, given that it followed the significant sell-off in the last quarter of 2018. Between the start of October and the end of December last year, the MSCI World Index fell 13.9%. That was the worst end to a year since 2011, and the 11th worst quarterly fall since 1970.
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All that glitters offshore is not gold Investors need to be circumspect about investing outside of South Africa.

Why do we invest?

Why don’t we just spend all the money we earn and let tomorrow take care of itself?http://ow.ly/ZwTw50u7kyT

Why do you invest? Using life goals rather than arbitrary market benchmarks can help you make better financial decisions.

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has published a draft conduct standard for determining the skills and training requirements for board members of pension funds. Comments are required by July 4.http://ow.ly/Jz0e50upMFr

FSCA moves to ensure pension fund board members are up to the task Draft conduct standard published, toolkit provided, assessments required.

Over the last few years there has been a major focus on the cost of investing. With competitive pressure from passive funds with low fees and scrutiny from regulators across the world, the costs to investors have come down.

There is no question that this is good for clients. The lower the fees they have to pay, the more of the return they keep for themselves.

However, a focus on cost alone is only half of the story. It’s not just what you are paying that matters, but what value you are getting in return, that counts.http://ow.ly/TA9g50u7kyh

Are asset managers listening to retail investors? Do they know what their clients value?

Warren Buffett is widely regarded as one of the world’s most astute investors. As chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, he has built up a fortune that made him the richest man in the world at one point.

His ability to identify companies that outperform over the long term has made him an icon of the industry. However, he recently gave Yahoo! Finance a powerful example of how simple it can be to be successful.http://ow.ly/wbHe50tY3QS

This is how much your investment behaviour is costing you Over the long term, the biggest risk to your wealth could be yourself.

Psychologically hard-wired to seek certainty, we tend to struggle with the many unknowns that typically come with a general election.

The standard risk-return investment tradeoff can even become skewed by the sheer unpredictability and disproportionate macroeconomic importance placed on the outcome of one single sovereign event.

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What the general elections mean for SA investors | IOL Business Report Achieving high-risk returns and retaining the certainty of guarantees is actually possible.

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT I NEED COVER FOR?

A meeting with your Financial Adviser or Broker will help you understand the level of cover that you need for each life stage. A qualified Financial Adviser or Broker is trained to help you navigate your financial plan for now and into the future.http://ow.ly/BXen50tY3Jv

The circle of financial planning | IOL Personal Finance Long-term insurance can give you a lifeline in the event of a life-changing illness or diagnosis or loss of income due to retrenchment or disability.

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The new cost measure for retirement funds, developed by the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa (Asisa) and which came into effect on March 1, is similar to the one already in place for retail collective investment schemes.

‘Retirement’ and ‘retail’ fund cost disclosures: what’s the difference? | IOL Personal Finance The RSC is aimed at employers and fund trustees, while the EAC is relevant for individual members

Many investors obsess about returns. They want to know which asset class or which fund manager is outperforming because they want the highest possible growth on their money.

This is not illogical. Anyone putting their money to work by investing it should want to know that it is delivering a good return.http://ow.ly/ZYCv50qYlPV

You could take care of your children’s retirement The power of planning ahead.

in the context of state capture and with the benefit of hindsight, the re-emergence of load shedding was inevitable and perhaps we shouldn’t have been so quick to pack away those cylinders. With winter just around the corner, we need to be prepared for more black outs and uncertainty around the country’s energy grid.

Similarly, when planning our financial futures, we need to prepare accordingly for life’s ‘blackouts’ – factors beyond our control and unforeseeable events that can bring us to our knees if not carefully planned for. Although it is impossible to plan for every curveball, these five eventualities are worth planning for:http://ow.ly/4Er850q3TbS

Are you prepared for a financial ‘blackout’? While you can't cover every curveball, it's worth planning for these five eventualities.

Wishing you all a safe and peaceful Easter Weekend

https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/economy/mpc-remains-steadfast-on-cpi-target-midpoint/
The South African Reserve Bank is steadfast that it wants to see inflation expectations anchored at the 4.5% midpoint of its target range, governor Lesetja Kganyago said.

MPC remains steadfast on CPI target midpoint Reserve Bank wants to see inflation expectations anchored at the 4.5% midpoint of its target range.

In many international jurisdictions, the beneficiaries of a trust may not be trustees of the trust as well, but in South Africa it was always acceptable that the beneficiaries of a family trust may be appointed as trustees.
But in a landmark case in 2005 – Land and Agricultural Bank of South Africa v Parker – the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that there was no proper separation of ownership or control of the trust assets from their enjoyment or use. As the trustees are entrusted with the control of the assets in the interest of the beneficiaries, inadequate separation may result in the trust being regarded as an extension of the estate of the founder.

Why it’s important to appoint an independent trustee Even though cost may be a deterrent.

One of the first principles in investing is to buy low and sell high. A second principle is to avoid doing the exact opposite, namely buying high and selling low. http://ow.ly/qweF30of17a

Investments: It’s all going to the (under)dogs Investing in ‘unloved’ shares can be a winning strategy for those prepared to stay the course.

In a world of easy debt and instant gratification, most South Africans can barely make it through the month. Over their heads in debt, the last thing on their minds is putting away savings for the future.
This is particularly true of the 20 to 40 age group, for whom retirement is a vague and distant reality, says Geraldine Macpherson, legal marketing specialist at Liberty. http://ow.ly/BkDJ30o9bLz

For many, retirement will mean a change in careers Whether by choice or of necessity, South Africans will generally continue to work past the age of 65.

According to figures from global online resource Structured Retail Products (SRP), R5.4 billion was invested in structured products in South Africa last year. This was down from R8.3 billion in 2017.
Structured products are investments designed to deliver a predetermined return, usually supported by a degree of capital protection. This is most often based on the performance of an underlying equity market. http://ow.ly/jn1Q30o9bUC

SA structured products deliver mixed results Highlighting how important product selection is for investors.