GTC Q3 2024

Kyle Jeacocks Institutional Client Servicing     _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ The implicit cost of waiting to save As the costs of life increase at a faster rate than one’s salary might, funding an expense as and when it falls due, means that a greater component of your limited monthly income must be committed to that expense in the future.  Against this backdrop, whether you’re preparing to save for retirement, for your children’s school fees, for a well-deserved holiday, or the acquisition of a new asset – the sooner one starts to save will significantly reduce the associated cost of that savings decision over time, and the mathematics backs this statement up. For every month that you choose to spend, rather than save, it means that over and above the rand cost itself – you have actually spent time.  The consequence this carries... Read More

Gary Mockler Group Chief Executive Officer _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ There’s an old adage about never looking a gift horse in the mouth.  Coinciding our quarterly investment report with a strong three months of investment performance is kind of a gift horse and GTC is enjoying the opportunity of presenting this good news. Despite there still being potential obstacles (and it’s probably prudent to temper the prevailing positive investment news), as per the investment reports that were sent out last week, local markets had a good three months, global markets enjoyed the same, and the rand strengthened against the dollar (or more accurately, the dollar weakened against the rand).  Nearly half of that performance came about in September. Some GTC unit trusts are having their names changed Starting several years ago GTC set out to align our portfolio names for both our private... Read More

Gary Mockler Group Chief Executive Officer _______________________________________________________________________________________________________   Using the Two-pot System.  Two-(pot) wrongs don’t make a right Here at GTC the initial pent-up demand for Two-pot savings withdrawals is now sorted with all but the exceptional cases having been accommodated. We accompanied every withdrawal application with a detailed counselling engagement and it was enlightening as to the reasons and motivations that members had for these withdrawals. In our pursuit of establishing GTC’s Net Promoter Score (an international standard by which companies are measured by their customers) from affected retirement fund members (and GTC is proud of an overall score of 97%), we gleaned some useful information from the numerous responses we received.  A relatively common trend was of members noting how easy the process had been, with them looking forward to repeating this same process next year, as they... Read More

  Manty Seligman Director – Asset Management     _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ A case for a 1% rate cut to stimulate economic growth Determining and managing a country’s monetary policy is complex.  There are many influencing factors.  There are even more desired outcomes which ordinarily include stability and growth.  This is the job of each country’s central bank. Locally, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is tasked with maintaining inflation targets and currency stability, while fostering economic growth.  Recent decisions by the SARB have however sparked debate among economists and policymakers alike, with the contention that the South African central bank has missed the opportunity of creating policy certainty and kick-starting the economy by only cutting lending rates by 25bps on 19 September. Amongst many other opinion makers, GTC contends that a more aggressive cut of 1% would have conveyed an appropriately... Read More

Dave Johnson Independent Trustee       _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ The multi-faceted layers of educational costs I am sure that many financial plans include the provision for educating children and getting them started in life.  Having gone through this with my four sons (actually still going through it), I realise that my original planning was considerably inadequate.  Back then, I based my views on the costs my parents incurred getting my siblings and I started in life.  I have since discovered that the world has changed significantly since then. Some of my experiences and observations relate specifically to my own situation whilst others are first-hand experiences of other parents. Years of study My original financial planning anticipated a student being at university for three to four years.  I got this one wrong.  For example, to qualify at UCT as a Chartered Accountant... Read More