To some people hedge funds are unfathomable investments which grab international headlines when risky bets result in a sticky end. In South Africa however hedge funds and hedging strategies are mostly used to protect investors’ capital. We look how...
Structured funds that guarantee investors’ capital tend to be very popular after a market crash. Typically investors that get caught up in the market hype have full exposure to the equity markets and therefore suffer heavy losses when the markets...
A recent study by Alexander Forbes suggests that today’s average 40 year old will have 30% less funds in retirement than the previous generation due to lower market returns, longevity and lower savings rates relative to income. The Alexander Forbes...
A sense of disquiet has been growing among independent financial advisers around the pricing of certain investment products sold by tied agents. When a product’s cost structure makes it virtually impossible to beat a cash rate or when other equally...
Since its peak in 2008 the single stock futures market has fallen from around R60 billion open contracts at any one point, to around R2bn today. Maya Fisher-French explores the demise of the single stock future industry against the rise of CFD’s...
What we can learn from our parents who survived the inflation beast of the 1980’s There is no doubt that our day to day living expenses are becoming increasingly more expensive as necessities like electricity, travel and food take a bigger bite out...
City Press was recently sent a copy of a loan agreement between a customer and micro-lender Letsatsi Finance. In this agreement Letsatsi Finance lent the customer R8000 and included insurance on the loan at a monthly cost of R320. According to the...
In his budget address, Finance Minister Gordhan proposed that from March 2012 all employees will be allowed to deduct up to 22.5% of their taxable income for contribution to retirement funds up to a maximum of R200 000. While this may bring pension...
