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Saving & Investing

How Lifestyle Assets and Alternative Investments Work in a Well-Diversified Portfolio

“In choosing a portfolio, investors should look for a lot of different types of investments and be ready to ride out the bad times as well as the good.” (Harry Markowitz, author of Modern Portfolio Theory) Lifestyle investments include eco-estates, renewables, private equity, vineyards, and art collections. Investing in these types of assets can not…

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Financial PlanningSaving & Investing

Are You Financially Fluent or Just Faking It?

All that glisters is not gold.” (William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice) 1. Cash ain’t king Let’s cut to the chase: cash is not optimal for long-term investments. While it is the safest asset class, shares, property, and commodities generally produce better long-term returns.  Unit trusts work well in diversifying asset classes. What’s more, cash…

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Financial PlanningSaving & Investing

AI & Us: A Smarter, Smoother Wealth Journey

“By 2045, we will have multiplied the intelligence, the human biological machine intelligence of our civilization a billion-fold.” (Ray Kurzweil) Imagine that your financial planners (that’s us) possess a superpower: the ability to scan global markets in seconds and identify tax-saving opportunities as the deadline looms. While this may sound futuristic, it’s already a reality.…

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Market UpdateSaving & Investing

Market Update: Do SA Investors Know Something Foreigners Don’t?

While President Trump’s unpredictable trade policies are continuing to create global market volatility, emerging market equities have attracted attention this year as investors embrace them as a welcome diversifier from the uncertainty and volatility of US-centric investments. The MSCI Emerging Market equity index is up almost 18% year-to-date, with foreign investors pouring money into India,…

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Saving & InvestingUnderstanding the Markets

Is There Ever Such a Thing as a “Normal” Stock Market?

“The only constant is change.” (Heraclitus)   Stock markets everywhere have been on a bit of a rollercoaster in 2025. Uncertainty around interest rates, geopolitical instability, and the unpredictability of US trade policy have made for a bumpy ride. For any investor, these constant dips and gains can feel unsettling, even irrational. But before labelling…

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Financial PlanningSaving & Investing

The US and You: Why What Happens in America Impacts Your Portfolio

“The markets are like weather; you may not like it, but you have to bear it.” (Rakesh Jhunjhunwala) South African investors don’t need to follow every twist in American politics or economics, but you can’t ignore them either. The world’s biggest economy casts a long shadow, and what happens in the US can ripple across…

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