As a financial planner, I've noticed that people often think of employee benefits and personal finance as separate. However, as you'll see in the examples below, the two are not only related, but are in fact parts of a bigger picture. By taking a step back...
Due to under-saving, most working South Africans are unable to keep up with their basic needs if and when they retire. This so-called “retirement gap” can be calculated at any point in an individual's lifetime to determine whether they are on track to...
When it comes to retirement planning, selecting the right annuity policy is crucial. One option available to pensioners is the default living annuity policy, which is managed by a third party and does not grant the pensioner independent control over their...
Umbrella funds have been growing in popularity over the last couple of years and are especially valued by employers who prefer a lighter touch approach to their employee benefit arrangements. There will always be a place for large, credible free standing...
Many boards of trustees of standalone funds face a decision on whether or not to move into an umbrella fund. There are many possible reasons to make such a move including: Lower expenses Reduced responsibilities Reduced liability Reduced time and...
In my September 2020 article on umbrella funds a number of shortcomings in umbrella funds were highlighted. Has anything changed? My last article for Pensions World SA on umbrella funds highlighted a number of shortcomings, how the actual costs in an...
Over the past two decades, there has been a notable shift from standalone retirement funds to commercial umbrella funds. This transition has been driven by increased cost pressures, tighter regulatory requirements, increased demands on trustees, the desire...
Increased flexibility In the old days, joining an umbrella fund meant a very limited set of investment options for participating employers – and the cost of any customisation outweighed its benefits. Today, many umbrella funds offer participating employers a...
Passive investing involves investing in index funds or exchange-traded funds where investment securities are selected to match those of an index or a segment of the market, rather than being actively chosen by a portfolio manager with the goal of...
A global investing revolution has been underway for the past few decades. Increasingly, trillions of assets belonging to pension funds, institutions and retail investors have moved away from active fund managers. As fund performance transparency has...
