Our Family Office gives you direct, personal access to an in-house team covering investments, fund management, estate planning, wills and trusts, healthcare and insurance — all working together to grow and preserve your wealth, rather than dealing with separate specialists in isolation.

Yes, our full Family Office offering is designed for clients with a net worth of R10 million or more. Our Share Portfolio Management services are available to clients with investments of R5 million or more, whether held locally or offshore.

Standard financial planning typically focuses on a specific plan or set of goals. Family Office goes further, actively managing your investment portfolio on an ongoing basis, structuring your finances as tax-efficiently as possible, and coordinating your business, trust, and estate affairs under one dedicated team.

Offshore investing is an important part of long-term wealth preservation and risk diversification, reducing your exposure to any single economy or currency. Whether you want to grow your wealth or draw an income from it, we offer offshore portfolios and unit trusts matched to your objectives.

Estate Duty is a tax levied on the value of your estate when you pass away, above a set exemption threshold set by SARS. The exact amount depends on the size and structure of your estate. Our estate planning team can model your position and structure your affairs to legally minimise this liability.

Not everyone needs a trust, but for many high-net-worth individuals it's a valuable tool for protecting assets, reducing Estate Duty, and controlling how and when beneficiaries — especially minor children — receive their inheritance. Our in-house team can assess whether a trust makes sense for your specific circumstances.

A Southern Charter advisor takes the time to understand your income, goals, and risk appetite, and then helps you build a personalised financial plan covering investments, retirement planning, tax-efficient savings, insurance, and wills and estate planning — all coordinated so the pieces work together rather than in isolation.

Not at all. Some of the most valuable advice happens early, before habits are set. Whether you're starting your career, raising a family, or preparing for retirement, an advisor can help you make the most of what you have and plan for what's ahead.

A Retirement Annuity is a long-term savings vehicle designed purely to help you build a retirement nest egg. Contributions reduce your taxable income up to a set limit, and your investment grows completely free of Capital Gains Tax, Dividends Tax, and Interest Tax while it's in the fund — so more of your money stays invested and compounds over time.

An RA is designed specifically for retirement — contributions reduce your taxable income, but funds are generally inaccessible until age 55. A TFSA lets you invest after-tax money that then grows and can be withdrawn completely tax-free, with more flexibility but an annual and lifetime contribution limit.

• RA: Tax-deductible contributions, locked in until retirement age
• TFSA: No tax on growth or withdrawals, contribution limits apply

The right amount of cover depends on your income, debts, dependants, and existing savings. A needs analysis with an advisor looks at what your family would need to maintain their lifestyle, settle debts, and cover future expenses like education, so your cover matches your actual circumstances rather than a generic estimate.

An initial consultation is generally free of charge and simply helps us understand your needs and how we can assist. Any fees for ongoing advice or specific products will always be discussed and agreed with you upfront, so there are never any surprises.

We tailor-make employee benefits structures and programs for your business, ensuring they're tax-efficient, relevant to each individual's needs, and designed to reward and encourage loyalty. This includes retirement funds, group risk cover, and ongoing support for you and your staff.

We begin with a thorough evaluation of your current structure and processes, then recommend, implement, and monitor a benefits structure optimised for tax-efficiency, cost, and transparency — while keeping you informed of any legislative changes or new opportunities along the way.

Depending on how your scheme is structured, this could include:

• Death Cover
• Disability Cover (temporary or permanent)
• Dread Disease / Critical Illness Cover
• Funeral Benefit (in some cases)

Our team benchmarks these benefits regularly to ensure they remain competitive and appropriate for your staff.

We benchmark your benefits and broker your fund to ensure cost-efficiency and price competitiveness on an ongoing basis. In one long-standing client relationship, this kind of effective brokering saved over R1.5 million on risk benefits alone.

In many cases, yes. If an employee has been on the fund for a qualifying period, they may be able to continue benefits such as Death, Disability, and Dread Disease cover privately, often without fresh medical underwriting. We can confirm the specific terms that apply to your scheme.

Claims are typically initiated through HR or your appointed broker, with some supporting documentation required. We guide your team step-by-step through the process to make sure everything is submitted correctly and as smoothly as possible during a difficult time.

Asset allocation is the art of knowing when to be invested in which asset classes and markets, and in what proportion. Research shows that around 92% of investment returns come from asset allocation, compared to just 2% from market timing and 6% from stock selection — which is why it's the foundation of our approach.

Strategic asset allocation is the long-term mix of asset classes for each fund, based on 60 years of return data. Tactical asset allocation is the shorter-term adjustment we make around that baseline as market research and emerging themes suggest a particular asset class will perform better or worse.

Once our strategic asset allocation is set, we assess and choose managers in each asset class based on their ability to perform well under present and expected future market conditions. These managers and their positions are then monitored on an ongoing basis.

We offer three types of investment options: our Flagship risk-profiled Life Cycle Funds for retirement savings and local investing, Offshore feeder funds for easy offshore investing, and Offshore portfolios for more complex offshore needs. Each is managed according to the same disciplined investment approach.

We regularly review the performance of all our funds, the underlying asset classes, and our appointed managers to determine where decisions added or detracted value. This feedback loop continuously improves our overall investment decision-making process.

You can access your fund value through the fund administrator's online portal or mobile app. If you're not sure how to log in or can't find your details, your Southern Charter advisor can help you get set up and talk you through what the figures mean.