What problem does this fund solve?

Once one has made enough money in life, there comes a point when you need to protect your wealth, or at least a portion of it. In other words, you want to maintain the purchasing power of your wealth.

Everyone’s interpretation of “enough” will be different, but for the genuinely wealthy there will at some point be a portion of their wealth that they need to protect – be it for their own peace of mind, to preserve spending power or to pass on the next generation.

The primary purpose of the fund’s investment strategy is therefore to protect capital in real (i.e. inflation adjusted) terms. This is a “stay rich” vehicle, not a “get rich” vehicle.

The risks that this fund focuses on managing are:

  • Inflation, i.e. the preservation of the real value (in hard currency terms) of the capital invested.
  • Avoiding any permanent loss of capital.
  • Liquidity.

How do we do this?

The fund will at all times be fairly evenly invested in 4 main asset classes: Cash, Bonds, Equity (growth assets) and Commodities (hard or real assets). Its assets at all times will offer some protection against certain events, and produce gains from other events. The fund’s exposure to any of the asset classes will be tilted towards undervalued assets (i.e. assets with embedded low expectations), but never in an extreme fashion.

Principles behind our investment process

  • We will not forecast.
  • We will not “reach for yield”.
  • We aim to generate satisfactory returns.
  • The price you pay for an investment is its most important source of return, and one that is 100% under our control.

What returns can unitholders expect?

  1. Over the past 20 years, cash returns have averaged 1,2% BELOW inflation. Cash management will require careful thought, to produce returns in line with inflation.
  2. Long-term expected Bond returns should be around 1% in excess of inflation. Over the past 20 years, bond yields have averaged 0,8% above inflation.
  3. Long-term expected Equities returns should produce 4-6% in real terms – let’s work with 4%.
  4. Over the past 20 years, Gold has returned 8,6%, or 5% above inflation. Oil has returned 5,8%, or 3,2% above inflation. Let’s work with 3% real returns for these Commodity assets.

Therefore, allocating 25% of the fund to each asset class should in theory provide a return of 2% above US$ inflation and this is how we arrive at the funds targeted investment return.

The fund will be robust with respect to whatever economic environment prevails, without trying to forecast what it will look like at any point in future.

The profile of returns will be less volatile than pure equity, but with a lower expected return as well. The return will be in excess of inflation over the medium to long term.

What fees will investors pay?

Maximum Annual Advice Fee: 1.15%

More information

To find out more about the Merchant West SCI Worldwide Flexible Fund and to invest in the fund, visit the Merchant West website.

This fund is co-managed by Piet Viljoen as a representative of Merchant West Investments (Pty) Ltd, the investment manager.

Please direct any queries to Merchant West.

Sanlam Collective Investments (RF) Pty Ltd is responsible for the fund.

Statutory Information

Fund Objective

This portfolio will be a worldwide multi-asset flexible portfolio with specific focus on generating returns in excess of inflation. The primary objective of the portfolio is to seek above average returns with below average risk for investors.


Fund Strategy

The portfolio will invest in a flexible combination of securities in the equity, bond, money and property markets. The portfolio will be managed with assets being shifted between various investment markets to reflect the changing economic and market conditions, in order to maximise returns for investors. The Manager will be permitted to invest on behalf of the Merchant West SCI Worldwide Flexible Fund in offshore investments as legislation permits. The portfolio may include participatory interests of portfolios or other forms of participation in collective investment schemes or other similar schemes registered in South Africa or operated in territories with a regulatory environment which is to the satisfaction of the Manager and Trustee and of a sufficient standard to provide investor protection at least equivalent to that in South Africa. The portfolio may also invest in listed and unlisted instruments (derivatives) as allowed by the Act.


Investment Manager

Merchant West Investments (Pty) Limited


Portfolio Manager

Piet Viljoen and Daniel King


Trustee / Custodian

Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd


Manager

Sanlam Collective Investments (RF) (Pty) Ltd


Base Currency

Rand


Disclaimer

Sanlam Collective Investments (RF) (Pty) Ltd is a registered Manager in terms of the Collective Investment Schemes in Securities. A schedule of fees can be obtained from the Manager. Charges of the most expensive fee class, maximum fund charges include (incl. VAT): Manager initial fee (max.): 3.45%; Manager annual fee (max.): 1.15%; Total Expense Ratio (TER): 1.28%. The Manager retains full legal responsibility of the third-party portfolio. The registered name of the fund is Merchant West Sanlam Collective Investments Worldwide Flexible Fund. The Management of this portfolio is outsourced to Merchant West Investments (Pty) Ltd, (FSP) License No. 44508, an Authorised Financial Service Provider under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, 2002. The fund invests in equities and commodities and therefore moderate to high risk. Additional risks due to foreign investments might be applicable such as potential constraints on liquidity and repatriation of funds, macroeconomic risk, political risk, foreign exchange risk, tax risk, settlement risk as well as potential limitations on the availability of market information. Merchant West Investments (Pty) Ltd, (FSP) License No. 44508 is an Authorised Financial Services Provider under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, 2002.

Merchant West Investments (Pty) Ltd accepts no liability of any sort resulting from reliance being placed upon information contained in this document by any person. Whilst every effort is made to represent accurate financial and technical information on an ongoing basis, inadvertent errors and typographical inaccuracies may occur. Information, laws, rules and regulations may also change from time to time. Information contained is therefore made available without any express or implied representation or warranty whatsoever, and Merchant West Investments (Pty) Ltd disclaims liability for any expenses incurred, or any damage, claims or costs sustained by users arising from the reliance being placed on the use of services or any information or representations contained in this document. The materials contained on these pages are provided for general information purposes only. We accept no responsibility for any loss or damage which may arise from reliance on information contained in these pages.

The document should not be seen as an offer to purchase any specific product and is not to be construed as advice or guidance in any form whatsoever. Investors are encouraged to obtain independent professional investment advice before investing. Investors should be aware that investing in a financial product entails a level of risk which depends on the nature of the investment. The merits of any investment should be considered together with the investor’s specific risk profile and investment objectives. Collective Investment Schemes are generally long-term investments. Merchant West Investments (Pty) Ltd does not provide any guarantee, either with respect to the capital or the return of a portfolio. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance. Fluctuations in exchange rates and underlying investments may cause the value of international investments or underlying investments, if included in the mandate, to go up or down. Illustrations are not guaranteed but are for illustrative purposes only.