At current levels, the Rand provides a good opportunity for externalising funds The Rand exchange rate appears to be benefiting from a rare range of positives that are likely to continue over the next 3-6 months. Importantly, this does not mean that Rand is expected to strengthen substantially further in the weeks ahead, but it…
One of the most misunderstood areas of taxation among higher net worth South African investors is the implications of holding a high-value portfolio of shares in an offshore jurisdiction. Many wealthy investors have sizeable global share portfolios with banks in Switzerland, the Channel Islands, and other parts of the world. They have established these relationships…
Between the global COVID-19 crisis and the decision from Moody’s to downgrade South Africa’s sovereign credit rating in Q1 2020, the rand has had a torrid year so far. Is R18.70 to the US dollar fair value, could it fall further, and what are the chances that it could rebound? As regular readers of our…
“Panic is highly contagious, especially in situations when nothing is known and everything is in flux.” – Stephen King Stock markets across the world had their worst day since the 2008 financial crisis on 9 March this year. A more than 30% intra-day crash in the oil price added further volatility to a market already spooked…
Endowments are an overlooked instrument among people seeking to maximise the tax efficiency of their investment portfolios, but they can be a useful tool under certain circumstances. They are particularly useful for people who have a higher marginal tax rate than 30%. We believe that the only class of endowment that is really worth looking…
High net worth families used to rely on creating a trust as a tax-efficient vehicle for growing their assets and passing wealth from generation to generation. But tax authorities and governments around the world have tightened up laws and regulations to prevent the affluent from using trusts to shield their income and capital gains from…
Despite some blonde global leaders recent efforts, the world is more open to emigration than ever before, capital knows no borders, and it’s increasingly common for the members of a mid to high-income South African family to be scattered around the globe. From the young professional working in Dubai for a few years before returning…
With more and more people formally emigrating from South Africa, many because they have been advised that emigration automatically terminates one’s tax residency in South Africa, it is worthwhile revisiting how one ceases to be tax resident in South Africa and the South African tax obligations of the termination of South African tax residency. An…
As we enter the home stretch of 2019, many of the same themes that have dominated headlines for the past three years continue to dictate the direction of the markets. But in addition to the volatile brew of Brexit, trade wars and instability in the Middle East, a number of analysts and economists are beginning…
