Compliment from an SA Data Analyst

“Dear K
Thank you again for the opportunity to work with you on this project. First of all I would like to commend Retirement Fund Solutions on the quality of the data that was provided. In my 15 years in Asset Management I have never come across a data set that is in such good standing, it really is a testament to your business.”

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 <img alt="RFS Sun" src="http://www.rfsol.com.na/images/newletter-images/2015-rfs-sun.jpg" /> 
 <a href="http://www.rfsol.com.na" target="_blank">Retirement Fund Solutions</a>
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 <a href="http://www.rfsol.com.na/?tabno=3&atclid=78">Benchmark Retirement Fund</a></div>
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 <div align="left">If you can't see the pictures or want to verify that this e-mail comes from RFS, view it online, <a href="http://www.rfsol.com.na" target="_blank">here...</a> 
 
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 Is your retirement investment portfolio adequate? 
 Find the Benchmark pension fund calculator, <a href="http://www.rfsol.com.na">here... </a>
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 Whilst we have taken all reasonable measures to ensure that the results reflected herein are correct, Benchmark Retirement Fund and Retirement Fund Solutions Namibia (Pty) Ltd do not accept any liability for the accuracy of the information and no decision should be taken on the basis of the information contained herein before confirming the detail with the relevant portfolio manager. 
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 The content of this e-mail may not be copied or reproduced and disseminated to other persons without the express written consent of the author thereof. Whilst we have taken all reasonable measures to ensure that the information reflected herein is correct, Benchmark Retirement Fund and Retirement Fund Solutions Namibia (Pty) Ltd do not accept any liability for the accuracy of the information and no reliance should be placed on, or decision taken upon the basis of, the information contained herein before having confirmed the relevant detail with the author or another appropriately qualified person.
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 <td align="left" bgcolor="#0071bb" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="2" colspan="6" valign="top" width="440">In this newsletter: 
 Benchtest 07.2018, message from Managing Director, pension or provident fund, risks of dismissal, conferences and more...</td>
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 Important notes and reminders 
 
 RFS client function to be held on 5 September 
 
 RFS will once again host a client function of 5 September at ‘De Kayak’ next to Olympia municipal swimming pool on 5 September starting at 17h15. 
 
 The keynote address will be delivered by Brett St Clair. Brett has more than 20 years of experience in the global digital landscape. He mastered the secrets of Silicon Valley over 10 years, as he worked to build African successes at Admob (the world’s largest Mobile Advertising Network), Android, YouTube, Google and Google’s Cloud Computing across Africa. 
 
 Brett will speak on ‘Digital Transformation - The Path To Innovation’. Understanding where digital  disruption is coming from and key technology trends causing exponential disruption holds the key to understanding the ways of working in future. 
 
 Benchmark Retirement Fund annual member meeting to be held on 6 September 
 
 Members of the Benchmark Retirement Fund will be updated on latest developments within the fund, it financial position and investment returns at the annual member meeting to be held at NIPAM, Paul Nash Street Olympia, on 6 September 2018, starting at 17h00. The keynote address will be delivered by Brett St Clair. Brett has more than 20 years of experience in the global digital landscape. He mastered the secrets of Silicon Valley over 10 years, as he worked to build African successes at Admob (the world’s largest Mobile Advertising Network), Android, YouTube, Google and Google’s Cloud Computing across Africa. 
 
 Brett will speak on ‘The Era of Digitalism’. The world used to be the domain of Silicon Valley but over 50 billion devices will be connected by 2010. What impact will this have on life for us all? Please confirm your attendance by writing to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call Andrea on 061 446 6069 by 31 August 
 
 If you are interested in any of these topics, your presence at the meeting is a foregone conclusion! 
 
 Quarter 3 of 2018 SIH returns – for warning 
 
 The SIH return at 30 September 2018 is due to be submitted by 15 November (note that the 45 days period remains in place). The return for quarter 2 was due to have been submitted by 15 August. 
 
 NAMFISA levies

 <ul>
 <li>Funds with year-end of July 2018 need to have submitted their 2nd levy return and payments by 25 August 2018; August 2018 year-ends by 25 September 2018.</li>
 <li>Funds with year-end of January 2018 need to have submitted their 1st levy return and payments by 25 August; February 2018 year-ends by 25 September 2018.</li>
 <li>Funds with year-end of January 2018 need to submit their final levy return and payment by 31 January 2019; December 2017 year-ends need to submit their final levy return and payment by 31 December 2018.</li>
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 Newsletter 
 
 Dear reader 
 
 In this newsletter we present a message by managing director Marthinuz Fabianus to our clients; we review the dilemma of pension fund or provident fund, lump sums or pensions; we review the potential risk of dismissal for an employer; we question the value of conferences, seminars and workshops; we analyse the requirements of RF.S.R.5.17, and in our investment commentary we suggest that under current market conditions, a prudential balanced portfolio is the best choice for an investment horizon of 3 years and longer. Under ‘legal snippets’, we review an interesting judgment by SA Appeal Board of the FSB dealing with the adjudicator’s powers to refuse to register rules. 
 
 The topical articles from various media should not be overlooked – they are carefully selected for the value they add to the management of pension funds and the financial well-being of individuals... 
 
 ...and make a point of reading what our clients say about us in the ‘<a href="https://rfsol.com.na/testimonials" target="_blank">Compliments</a>’ section. It should give you a good appreciation of who and what we are! 
 
 As always, your comment is welcome, so open a new mail and drop us a note! 
 
 Regards 
 
 Tilman Friedrich 
 
 Message from our Managing Director 
 
 I owe the diverse RFS clientele, various business leaders, peers in the industry, even former school mates I have not heard from in many years and not to forget friends and family a big thank you for the overwhelming congratulatory messages regarding my appointment as RFS Managing Director. 
 
 Most of the messages served not just to congratulate and wish me well, but to also offer support and importantly give me a heads-up on the challenges lying ahead. I have had to state at times repeatedly in recent conversations that my career story is not even a bit as remarkable as the story of RFS, the business that was started from absolutely zero less than 20 years ago. I have been extremely fortunate to have been part of RFS from its early days and I credit the keen interest in my role at RFS to the exceptional business reputation RFS has earned in the market to date. It sounds exaggerated to state the fact that RFS is today the largest wholly Namibian owned pension fund administrator, managed locally, by local Namibians! 
 
 We are extremely fortunate to have Tilman who is still energetic, of good spirit and most importantly willing to remain involved to offer his technical advice, motivation and mentorship on the operational side of the business. I could not have hoped for anything better. The greatest achievement of RFS and Tilman is the quality and strength of the management team and staff that conceals some of the finest individuals that form part of in my view the best pension fund management team ever put together in our industry. 
 
 With the imminent complete overhaul of the pension fund laws and the changes in the regulatory environment, the pension fund industry but more specifically pension fund administrators, boards of trustees of pension funds and pension funds asset managers face extremely challenging times ahead. Yet, further reasons for concerns are created with the uncertainties and secrecy around the envisaged National Pension Fund law being pursued by the Social Security Commission. Probably more than ever before, our industry needs a vibrant body to earnestly represent the interests and concerns of the industry. 
 
 Tilman was recently reconfirmed to serve on the legal and regulatory committee of the Retirement Funds Institute of Namibia (RFIN). This is a direct benefit our clients and the industry at large are gaining from Tilman’s wealth of experience and expertise. I have myself also recently joined the board of RFIN once again, which I previously served as President 12 years ago. RFIN however has not received the required support it needs from especially pension fund boards. It is not enough to pay membership fees to an industry body like RFIN and then leave it to a handful of trustees and mostly representatives of service providers to fight the challenges the industry face with regulators. I can make the point on another day, but on my maiden contribution to the newsletter in my new role, my plea to pension fund trustees is to get involved in the activities and the running of RFIN if RFIN is to be taken seriously and be meaningful in our industry. 
 
 I look forward to serving firstly our clients, but also the industry at large as I have done for the past 17 years I have been with RFS.

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 <td><img alt="Marthinuz Fabianus" src="https://rfsol.com.na/images/newletter-images/2017-01-b-marthinus.jpg" style="float: left; margin-left: 4px; margin-right: 4px; height: 110px; width: 88px;" />Marthinuz Fabianus graduated from Namibian University of Science & Technology with a Diploma in Commerce and Bachelors in Business Management. He completed a senior management development programme at University of Stellenbosch and various short courses including a macro-economic policy course which he completed at the International Training Centre of the ILO in Turin, Italy. Marthinuz also serves as trustee on the board of the Benchmark Retirement Fund and is a member of the board of the Retirement Funds Institute of Namibia.</td>
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 Tilman Friedrich's Industry Forum 
 
 Monthly Review of Portfolio Performance 
 to 30 June 2018 
 
 In June 2018 the average prudential balanced portfolio returned 2.45% (May 2018: -1.61%). Top performer is Allan Gray (3.92%); while EMH Prescient (1.13%) takes the bottom spot. For the 3 month period, Allan Gray takes top spot, outperforming the ‘average’ by roughly 1.92%. On the other end of the scale Investment Solutions underperformed the ‘average’ by 1.09%. 
 
 A more conservative portfolio for now should let you sleep more peacefully 
 
 The relevance of a normalised interest rate environment is that returns of all other asset classes should start normalizing in other words, returning to inflation beating returns of all asset classes but perhaps cash, up to inflation plus 6% to 8% on equities. Until we reach normality we will see lots of volatility particularly in the more volatile asset classes and we will see similar returns on the various asset classes. This is also what we showed in last month’s column where we looked at the period 1 July 2014 to 31 May 2018. In such scenario, a more conservative portfolio structure should offer more peace of mind as it will avoid the painful draw-downs of the more aggressive portfolios. 
 
 This is exactly what the trustees of the Benchmark Retirement Fund did with its Default Portfolio when they decided to pair the Prudential Inflation Plus portfolio with the Sanlam Inflation Linked portfolio on a 50: 50 basis to 50% of the portfolio in October last year. This appears to have worked out quite well for the portfolio since October 2017, given that it is a very short period. Over this 9 month period the Default Portfolio returned 6.2% compared to the return of the average manager’s 5.3%. Graphs 1.1 to 1.6 above cover this period and mirror the positive outcome of the reduction of risk affected in the Default Portfolio. 
 
 The US Repo rate is currently 2%, while US CPI was 2.9% at the end of June. This relationship should be the inverse of what it is meaning that based on current CPI, a US Repo rate of around 4% would indicate a normalised interest rate environment. 
 
 Read part 6 of the Monthly Review of Portfolio Performance to 30 June 2018 to find out what our investment views are. Download it <a href="https://rfsol.com.na/?tab=brf&atclid=949" target="_blank">here...</a> 
 
 Pension or provident fund, lump sums or pensions – where to from here? 
 
 Making adequate provision to retire with dignity is not so easy to achieve in the first instance, and there are a number of pitfalls that will prevent you from achieving this ideal - early withdrawal, poor investment returns, high management costs, too low basis for setting a contribution rate, too low contribution rates. Of course government doesn’t want end up bearing the responsibility for persons that have made inadequate provision for their retirement. 
 
 The proposed National Pension Fund is one policy measure government is considering in order to ascertain that all citizens will eventually have provided adequately to retire with dignity. Clearly there is serious and justified consideration how to go about this national objective. And it does not take much grey matter to appreciate that the approach must be two-pronged, one being to ascertain that everyone contributes adequately, the second one being to plug the holes in the system that cause leakages as we will deal with further on.

 <ul>
 <li>Currently, there is no legal requirement to preserve one’s capital upon resignation. The Income Tax Act encourages preservation by allowing retirement capital to be transferred to another approved fund, tax free but at the same time it allows you to withdraw a portion or all your capital within the first three years of resignation. This is only one leakage. The National Pension Fund envisages compulsory preservation but it is not in force.·         A much more serious leakage is the provision for provident funds in the Income Tax Act. These funds cannot pay pensions but only lump sums and oblige the employee to accept cash as the default arrangement. Obviously most employees are unlikely to reinvest the cash once in their possession. We question the existence of provident funds and believe SA has taken the right decision to enforce annuitisation at retirement meaning that fund members will be obliged to convert a portion of their retirement capital to an annuity. Under the FIM Bill, RF.S.5.18 also envisages compulsory preservation of a minimum of 75% of a member’s ‘minimum individual reserve’, often also referred to as member’s fund credit or share.</li>
 <li>Often pension funds require the retiree to purchase a pension from another fund or insurer. Such transactions not only often expose the retiree to unscrupulous operators, but the retiree has to incur substantial costs. Trustees are also often overwhelmed by consultants talking them into unnecessarily complex structures that might serve the needs of a very small minority but come at a cost. Trustees often do not grasp the complexity of such complex structures nor do they appreciate the risks. The consultants often introduce such arrangements with their own agenda, such as selling house products and services and making themselves indispensable for the fund.</li>
 <li>There are other less serious leakages which we will not cover now. The most serious leakages can and should be addressed by government through policy measures. The thought has been raised for the Income Tax Act to do away with provident funds. With regard to the National Pension Fund, it is still being contemplated whether or not any exemption will be granted to existing funds. It would appear likely that if any exemption were to be granted, it would be on the basis that the employee and employer contribution rate towards the fund is at least equal to that of the National Pension Fund (12%-14% of payroll?) and that benefits will primarily take the form of income rather than lump sum benefits.</li>
 </ul>
 Employers and trustees of course are free to pre-empt legislative measures to plug these leakages that are likely to be plugged through government policy measure sooner or later. In this light here is sound advice to employers until such time as the future of the National Pension Fund and of the Income Tax Act with regard to retirement provision has been cleared:

 <ul>
 <li>Rather offer a pension fund than a provident fund.</li>
 <li>The pension fund should offer income benefits rather than lump sums in the event of death, disablement and, as a matter of course, in the event of retirement.</li>
 <li>Be wary of converting your fund from pension fund to provident fund and to do away with income benefits.</li>
 <li>Be wary of outsourcing pensioners if your fund is large enough to carry the liability for in service spouse’s and children’s pensions and post retirement pensioners.</li>
 <li>Be wary of dissolving your investment reserve which is particularly useful for funds maintaining a pensioner pool.</li>
 <li>Be wary of unnecessarily complex and expensive fund structures that may serve a small group of members only.</li>
 </ul>
 Once abandoned, it will be extremely difficult for any fund to reintroduce the previous arrangements. 
 
 Conferences, seminars, workshops – are they worth our while? 
 
 Most professional bodies nowadays require their members to obtain an annual score for continuing professional education. Many entrepreneurs have pounced on this business opportunity by offering conferences, seminars and workshops. I am sure not to be the only one totally irritated by the unsolicited calls one receives virtually daily and the flood of invites filling up one’s Inboxes. Worst of all is the fact that one receives numerous calls from different sales people for the same conference, who all drive a hard sale to boost their commission income. 
 
 The cost of these events is in many instances exorbitant, considering that one would typically pay as much for about 10 days’ conferencing as one would pay for a whole year university tuition, or more! Some organisers even have the audacity to cost their conference in one or other foreign currency! The programmes typically comprise of an array of speakers, wisely picked between a few experts and a string of people whose only purpose is to present themselves in all their glory and eloquence. Often these events are poorly organised, studded with sub-optimal speakers and poor attendance, and at times one may even get trapped by a fly-by-night who offers great early-bird discounts just never to be seen or heard again (speaking of experience)! But to be honest, what can you learn by listening to six or eight 45 minute talks throughout the course of a day, depending on how long the tea and lunch breaks are drawn out, even if it were the best possible speakers? It can only be but an appetizer here and there for topics one may want to delve into more deeply in a more dedicated manner. 
 
 Isn’t it time for this industry to become regulated? We love regulators so here is another opportunity for controlling an awful waste of resources. 
 
 New regulations and standards: comment on RF.S.5.17 
 
 In the second half of last year NAMFISA issued a number of new regulations and standards for comment. Although some comments were submitted these mostly did not address the substance of these but rather their form. Having considered these comments NAMFISA made some changes that we would consider superficial and not addressing the real concerns. Trustees are urged to pro-actively consider the possible implications of these regulations and standards and how to deal with these.  Funds are encouraged to liaise with RFS where these may impact the administration of the fund.

 The following regulations and standards were issued and covered in the process:

 Regulations:

 <ul>
 <li>RF.R.5.3  Terms & conditions on which a board may distribute some or all of an actuarial surplus</li>
 <li>RF.R.5.7   The rate of interest payable on the value of a benefit or a right to a benefit  not transferred before the expiration of the applicable period pursuant to section 262(9)(c</li>
 <li>RF.R.5.8   The protection of unpaid contributions of an employer and the rate of interest payable on contributions not transmitted or received pursuant to section 262 (9)(a) and (b).</li>
 </ul>

 The above regulations were covered in the <a href="/testimonials?amp;view=article&id=911&catid=33&Itemid=101">Benchtest 2018-02 newsletter</a> issued in February.

 Standards:

 <ul>
 <li>RF.S.5.11  Alternative forms for the  payment of pensions for the purposes of defined contributions funds</li>
 <li>RF.S.5.12  The conditions pursuant to which a fund may be exempted from Chapter 5 or from any provisions of Chapter 5</li>
 <li>RF.S.5.13  Requirements for a communication strategy</li>
 <li>RF.S.5.14  Requirements for the annual report of the fund to its members</li>
 <li>RF.S.5.15  Requirements for the annual report of a fund to NAMFISA</li>
 <li>RF.S.5.17  Categories of persons having an interest in the compliance of a retirement fund with the provisions of section 262  and the requirements for reports that must be submitted to such persons</li>
 <li>RF.S.5.18 Matters to be included in investment policy statement</li>
 <li>RF.S.5.19  Matters to be communicated to members and contributing employers and minimum standards for such communication</li>
 <li>RF.S.5.20 Matters to be included in a code of conduct</li>
 <li>RF.S.5.22 Transfer of any business from a fund to another fund or from any other person to a fund</li>
 <li>RF.S.5.23 Fees that may be charged for copies of certain docs</li>
 </ul>

 In the <a href="/testimonials?amp;view=article&id=915&catid=33&Itemid=101">Benchtest 2018-03</a> newsletter we addressed RF.S.5.11. 
 In the <a href="https://www.rfsol.com.na/content/library-newsletter-archive/2018-04#lib" target="_blank">Benchtest 2018-04</a> newsletter we addressed RF.S.5.12 and RF.S.5.13. 
 In the <a href="https://www.rfsol.com.na/content/library-newsletter-archive/2018-05#lib">Benchtest 2018-05</a> newsletter we addressed RF.S.5.14 and RF.S.5.15. 
 In the <a href="https://www.rfsol.com.na/content/library-newsletter-archive/2018-06#lib" target="_blank">Benchtest 2018-06</a> newsletter we addressed RF.S.5.18 and RF.S.5.19 
 In the <a href="https://www.rfsol.com.na/content/library-newsletter-archive/2018-07#lib" target="_blank">Benchtest 2018-07</a> newsletter we addressed RF.S.5.20, RF.S.5.22 and RF.S.5.23 
 
 RF.S.5.17 
 Categories of persons having an interest in the compliance of a retirement fund with the provisions of section 262  and the requirements for reports that must be submitted to such persons

 This standard requires every pension fund to now report on a quarterly basis to members, pensioners, employers, labour unions, fund bankers, fund investment managers, fund actuary, fund auditor, NAMFISA, the Financial Intelligence Centre and “…any other party who may have a similar interest…” [to these parties]. This report is to be in a standard tabular form setting out extensive detail on contributions due and paid.

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 <td><img alt="Tilman Friedrich" src="https://rfsol.com.na/images/newletter-images/2015-friedricht.jpg" style="float: left; margin-left: 4px; margin-right: 4px; height: 110px; width: 88px;" />Tilman Friedrich is a qualified chartered accountant and a Namibian Certified Financial Planner ® practitioner, specialising in the pensions field. Tilman is co-founder, shareholder and Chairman of the RFS Board, and retired chairperson, and now trustee, of the Benchmark Retirement Fund.</td>
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 <td align="left" style="background-color: #7acaff; width: 420px;" valign="top">Compliment from an SA Data Analyst 
 
 “Dear K 
 Thank you again for the opportunity to work with you on this project. First of all I would like to commend Retirement Fund Solutions on the quality of the data that was provided. In my 15 years in Asset Management I have never come across a data set that is in such good standing, it really is a testament to your business.” 
 
 Read more comments from our clients, <a href="https://rfsol.com.na/testimonials">here...</a></td>
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 News from RFS 
 
 Former managing director hands over the baton 
 
 Here are a few photos from our internal handover function: 
 
 Staff movements 
 
 We are pleased to announce that Valerie Mudisie has joined our permanent staff establishment as from 1 August 2018. Valerie joined us in February 2018 from Alexander Forbes Financial Services where she last held the position of team leader. Valerie is a born Namibian from Okahandja. She is married and the mother of three kids (1 girl and 2 boys). She matriculated at Jan Möhr Secondary school in 2003. She started her career in 2004 with FNB as an admin clerk. After 5 years in the banking industry she joined Alexander Forbes as a Senior Fund Administrator. She was promoted to the position of team leader in 2014. Valerie gained valuable experience in our industry during the 8 years she worked for Alexander Forbes. She is a member of the Benchmark team serving a portfolio of participating employers as a Fund Administrator. Her 8 years’ fund administration experience no doubt stands her in good stead to promote our slogan ‘rock solid fund administration that lets you sleep in peace’ amongst her clients! We extend a hearty welcome to Valerie and look forward to her being a key ‘player’ for many years to come! 
 
 RFS and the Benchmark Retirement Fund welcome Namib Lead and Zinc 
 
 We are excited to advise that Namib Lead and Zinc just informed us it will be joining the Benchmark Retirement Fund as a participating employer. We sincerely appreciate this gesture of confidence and trust in RFS, as fund administrator, and the Benchmark Retirement Fund and extend a hearty welcome to the company and its employees to the fold of the Benchmark Retirement Fund. Our business model is not to dominate the market through a low-cost proposition. We focus on transparency, exceptional reporting and superior service. This should support and promote sound industrial relations and the employer’s employment philosophy and policy of attracting and retaining the best staff. If these are objectives important to your company and close to your heart, we should be your ideal partner in the provision of retirement benefits to your staff. 
 
 This appointment takes editor down memory lane to the 1970’s when he used to audit the books of Namib Lead and Zinc's predecessor mine! 
 
 News from NAMFISA 
 
 NAMFISA launches whistleblowing hotline 
 
 As reported in The Sun The Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) board chairperson Gerson Katjimune has officially launched the Namfisa whistleblowing hotline. 
 
 RFS and the Benchmark Retirement Fund support this initiative whole-heartedly and encourage any stakeholder of the industry in general, but of RFS and the Benchmark Retirement Fund specifically, to make use of this new hotline to report any fraud, bribery, corruption and suspicious transaction without delay. 
 
 NAMFISA investments exposed 
 
 The Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority has investments of N$527.9 million outside the country, according to its 2017 fourth quarter statistics bulletin. The report released last week shows that this is as decrease from N$552.6 million recorded during the third quarter of 2017. However, the amount was lower than the N$928.1 million invested within the country. Meanwhile, the company’s total investments during the period under review stood at N$1.46 billion in the third quarter of 2017. According to the bulletin, cash outside Namibia stood at N$41.5 million, compared to equities and shares outside Namibia standing at N$155.2 million. – The Namibian. 
 
 Media snippets 
 (for stakeholders of the retirement funds industry) 
 
 Inside the mind of a balanced fund manager 
 
 “For quite a few years, analysts and market commentators have warned that investors should expect returns to be lower going forward. But the lack of investment returns over the past three years has been worse than many have anticipated and has caused alarm among local investors. Over the past three years the median return of a local multi-asset high equity fund – the typical unit trust investors use to save for retirement – was a mere 4.8%. Many of these funds have not kept up with inflation. During the period, the local equity market has largely moved sideways and after the rand weakened significantly at the end of 2015, the local currency has strengthened again. This meant that many funds could not fully benefit from the international stock rally...” 
 
 What is the general expectation of balanced fund managers of equities, as typically the largest asset class holding in a balanced portfolio, going forward? 
 
 Download this cross-section of investment manager views by Ingé Lamprecht in Moneyweb of 24 July 2018, <a href="https://www.moneyweb.co.za/investing/unit-trusts/inside-the-mind-of-the-balanced-fund-manager/" target="_blank">here...</a> 
 
 Safeguarding the elderly from financial abuse 
 
 “Dissect some of South Africa’s most controversial investment schemes and you will come across groups of pensioners who invested after they were lured with empty promises of great returns. In light of the country’s poor savings culture and socio-economic challenges, only about one in ten people are in a position to maintain their standard of living in retirement. Desperate to supplement a meager savings pot, it is not difficult to see why many retirees become victims of too-good-to-be-true money-making schemes. But financial abuse is not limited to having your money pilfered. It can also involve fraud or pressure to part with money or other assets, or having these misused by a loved one or acquaintance…” 
 
 As pensioners grow older, health is likely to fail and often they will no longer be in a position of evaluating the financial advice they receive from a financial adviser and to take a rational decision. So how do you protect the pensioners’ life savings? 
 
 Read the article by Ingé Lamprecht in the Moneyweb Investor of 24 July 2018, <a href="http://moneyweb-2.instantmagazine.com/investor/the-moneyweb-investor-issue-47/safeguarding-the-elderly-from-financial-abuse/" target="_blank">here...</a> 
 
 Foreign equity transactions on the JSE 
 
 As equity investor one is competing with other equity investors for the best buys available. Often the buys everyone is piling into becomes expensive, being chased by high demand, with concomitant poor future growth prospects. Foreign investors represent a pool of investors on the JSE and their investment calls may assist you in deciding where to buy and where to sell. 
 
 SBG Securities produced an interesting analysis of what equities foreigners bought and sold on the JSE during June 2018. Download it <a href="https://www.rfsol.com.na/images/blogdocs/0265blogdoc-foreignequity.pdf" target="_blank">here...</a> 
 
 Media snippets 
 (for investors and business) 
 
 A huge storm may be looming for investors 
 
 Window-dressing - Why the market rallies at quarter end 
 
 “We are officially halfway through 2018 and it’s a good time to reflect and look at what’s happened so far this year. We compared the performance of the 100 largest shares on the JSE over different time periods and summarised the worst and best performers in the two tables below. Immediately we can note the 3.5% jump the Top40 Index experienced on 29 June, which accounted for all of the month’s 3.6% return. It was also the last trading day of the second quarter and the rampant one-day rally improved the picture substantially for those three months, returning 6.2% instead of 2.7%. The improvement was felt across the board with most shares posting a strong final day of the quarter. It may seem like an odd coincidence that the last day of the quarter sees this anomaly, but those in the asset management industry are well aware of this occurrence near quarter end. The phenomenon is called ’Window Dressing’ where fund managers change their positions and ’dress’ their funds to look more attractive at the end of a quarter (usually the period for reporting to clients). They may also try to increase the value of their funds in order to gain the maximum possible management fee (in cases where monthly or quarterly values are used to calculate the fee). The result is substantial buying support in the market which pushes up share prices…” 
 
 Read the full article by Joani van Wyk in Sharenet of 3 July 2018, <a href="http://www.sharenet.co.za/views/WindowDressing--Why-the-Market-Rallies-at-Quarter-End-/e9d9a8ad3b0b035278bf9a868c08dbe8" target="_blank">here...</a> 
 
 Where to invest - Comparing US and SA market valuations 
 
 If you are contemplating to invest in shares, should you invest in SA rather than the US or vise-versa? Analysing these markets on the basis of the CAPE (Cyclically Adjusted Price Earnings) Ratio tells an interesting story that may give you pointers where to look for opportunities. The next article (‘Mobius says there’s a 30% correction coming for US stocks’) dwells on the same topic and should also be referred to. 
 
 Download the full article by Ruan Koch of Laurium Capital in Moneymarketing of  June 2018, <a href="https://www.rfsol.com.na/images/blogdocs/0264blogdoc-mm.pdf" target="_blank">here...</a> 
 
 Mobius says there’s a 30% correction coming for US stocks 
 
 Mark Mobius, the 81-year-old investment guru, believes the U.S. stock market is set for a 30% correction that would essentially wipe out the gains of the last two years. The renowned fund manager…said “all the indicators” point to a large fall in the S&P 500… The market looks to me to be waiting for a trigger that will cause it to tumble. You can’t predict what that event might be — perhaps a natural disaster or war with North Korea…” 
 
 Read the full article in Marketwatch of 21 April 2018, <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/mark-mobius-says-theres-a-30-correction-coming-for-us-stocks-2018-04-17" target="_blank">here...</a> 
 
 Interesting statistics 
 
 <img alt="" height="300" src="https://www.rfsol.com.na/images/newletter-imgs/2018-07-statista.jpg" style=" height:300px; width:421px; " width="421" /> 
 From Capricorn Asset Management Daily Brief of 25 July 2018. 
 
 And finally... 
 
 Blackboard wisdom at a filling station 
 
 A  filling station has become quite a landmark in Gauteng, South Africa, with its daily #PetrolPumpWisdom, which are uplifting quotes written on a chalkboard. Some motorists say they deliberately travel this road just to read the quote which brightens their day. Here's one: 
 
 <img alt="" height="236" src="https://www.rfsol.com.na/images/newletter-imgs/2018-07-garage.jpg" style=" height:236px; width:419px; " width="419" /> 
 
 
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