23 October 2024
“Clients deserve exposure to offshore investments for a host of reasons – diversification in their portfolio, arguably, being the most important one.” This was the guiding idea that underpinned the joint presentation by Kritz Coetzee, Head of Glacier Business Development (South) and Hildegard Wilson, Head of Investment Solutions at Glacier Invest at the recent Sanlam BlueStar Conference 2024 on the many reasons why offshore investment should form part of a client’s portfolio.
Four reasons to go global
- The size of the global investible universe
The South African investible universe is limited. If there was just one good reason to invest offshore, this would be it. In recent years, there has been a slow rate of companies listing on the JSE, while many have delisted, resulting in a shrinking JSE. Consequently, the local, listed investible universe make up less than 1% of the equivalent global opportunity set.
Investing offshore provides opportunities in 300 000 global funds, and in sectors and asset classes such as technology (e.g. Apple of Nvidia) that either do not exist in South Africa or have limited capacity locally. If you exclude Naspers/Prosus from the listed stocks, the JSE offers you virtually 0% exposure to tech.
- Access to a world of leading asset managers that are not SA-based
Research and a global footprint are critical to an asset manager that operates in offshore markets. There are some offshore asset managers that have an decades long history, and some with trillions of dollars in under management (AUM), with offices across the globe, geographically located within the markets in which they operate.
- Offshore investing involves similar investment structures as local investing.
Sinking funds, endowments and discretionary savings plans are investment structures that intermediaries use as a matter of course in local investing. Offshore investments offer similar investment vehicles.
- Glacier has tried-and-tested options to take clients’ investments offshore
For more than a decade, Glacier International has considered clients’ needs regarding liquidity, succession, estate planning and tax matters and has custom-built solutions around these criteria. There are numerous investment vehicles to use when investing clients’ capital in global markets, to invest directly in offshore in hard currency. Each vehicle has its own advantages, and each one will appeal to a different type of investor in terms of their investment objectives, their need for tax efficiency, their tax reporting requirements, and consideration of the repatriation laws in various jurisdictions.
Introducing Navigate International by Glacier Invest
Backed by the collective expertise and combined manager research efforts of the Glacier and Sanlam Investment Multi-Manager teams, Navigate International is a simple international portfolio set constructed and managed in accordance with specific risk profiles and investment objectives to appeal to a variety of investors.
Fund selection is an onerous, tricky, time-consuming process. Through in-depth research capacity, specialised skill built over many years, and partnering with some of the best asset managers in the world, Navigate International by Glacier Invest, brings the world of global investing to clients and intermediaries and takes the heavy lifting out of portfolio construction. The range consists of optimised portfolios, global specialist portfolios and portfolios of exchange traded funds (ETFs).
How Navigate International helps the adviser
The intermediary’s primary role remains advice, coaching and holistic financial planning for their clients. Navigate International by Glacier Invest alleviates possible concerns around advice risk and practice efficiencies. It provides intermediaries with uniformity across the portfolios for specific risk profiles with access to tailored wrap fund solutions that use a selection of well-researched funds as well as funds not readily accessible to South African investors.
