Results from the South African Investor Confidence Index – a monthly survey conducted by the Institute of Behavioural Finance (IBF) among institutional investors and financial advisors Institutional investors and financial planners greatly differ in their opinions of the current market valuation and expected equity returns over the next 12 months, according to the latest South [...]
Archive | Financial Planning
RSS feed for this sectionExpectations widen between advisers and institutional investors
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Time to declare your foreign assets
Taxpayers should take full advantage of the new Voluntary Disclosure Programme, particularly those with undisclosed assets held off-shore, ahead of the application deadline at end October this year. This was a key message from Yasmeen Suliman director of KPMG tax, at a breakfast presentation attended by representatives from businesses across KZN. She notes that there [...]
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Debt relief concessions in 2011
Highly indebted South Africans with a debt to income ratio of as much as 250 percent (total debt as a percentage of total annual income) require 70 percent of monthly income to repay debt. Dramatic action has been needed to assist such consumers and during 2010 debt counsellors, credit providers and the National Credit Regulator [...]
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2011 Outlook – any surprises?
By Paul Stewart, managing director of Plexus Asset Management The famous US baseball player “Yogi” Berra once said, “It’s tough making predictions, especially about the future.” Hopefully we can all identify with Yogi’s somewhat contorted logic. Forecasts on very short-term outcomes such as, ‘I will be alive to see this article’s completion in an hour’s [...]
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PWC launches Financial Services Journal
At the start of 2011, the dynamics and competiveness of the South African financial services sector are set to increase in complexity with concerns about European debt, uncertainty about the future of the value of the Rand and with new developments in regulation and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). In response to these and other [...]
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Beware the ‘jolly’ fear index
‘Tis the season to be jolly … even South Africa’s investment volatility index the SAVI says so. But watch out, savers and investors, because some surprises just might be in store. The seasonal word to the wise comes from Absa Investments, the Absa banking group’s asset management and investment arm. A sense of investor safety [...]
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Deteriorating road conditions impact everybody
SHORT-TERM INSURANCE leader, Santam, reports a significant increase in the number of claims caused by deteriorating road conditions. It advises motorists to use national roads as much as possible and to avoid alternate routes, especially when driving long distance. “Pothole damage to a business or private vehicle,” says Louise Pharo, Head of Commercial Business at [...]
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Currency Forecasts
Going travelling in 2011? Here’s what the rand might do The below forecasts and commentary are an excerpt from a longer report by the dealing room of easy-forex, an international licensed and regulated online currency trader. “South Africa achieved real GDP growth of 3.3% in 2010 as it received a boost from strong commodity and [...]
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Don’t waste a good recession
At a press conference held on Tuesday (30 November) to release the latest findings of their Savings Monitor, Old Mutual sounded an optimistic note that the economy is on the slow road to recovery after the recent recession, with interest rates at their lowest levels since 1974 and inflation falling comfortably within the government’s stated [...]
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Tax Guide 2012
Latest Issue - 30 April 2012
In This Issue:
- Local and offshore ETFs
- Why stock selection is key
- Medical Survey - the cost of healthcare
- New player in life insurance market
Newsletters
Newsletter 17 May 2012: Lump sum versus debit order, 3 essentials for a confident investor
In today’s newsletter we look at investing with a lump sum or regular contributions – how do they stack up against each other? We also share three investment tips to cope with uncertainty. Being right about muddle-through hasn’t made investing any easier Most predicted that politically and often economically the year 2012 would be a [...]
