{"id":829017,"date":"2025-06-29T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=829017"},"modified":"2025-06-27T14:26:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T12:26:09","slug":"how-rich-south-africans-are-protecting-their-money-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/finance\/829017\/how-rich-south-africans-are-protecting-their-money-2\/","title":{"rendered":"How rich South Africans are protecting their money"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Amid increasing uncertainty in global economies in 2025, experts stressed the need for diversification, particularly with offshore investments, which is how wealthy individuals protect their assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Henley & Partners<\/a>, many high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) are increasingly seeking ways to diversify their assets and reduce exposure to local risks, which include a weakening currency, high taxation, and political uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Offshore investments provide access to international sectors and industries, such as technology, healthcare, and renewable energy, that are poorly represented locally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This enables them to benefit from growth opportunities unavailable within the South African economy, thus lowering their risk profile while gaining exposure to stronger, more diversified economies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a major increase in geopolitical risk,\u201d said<\/a> Stefan Engelbrecht, portfolio manager for Mazi NexGen at Mazi Asset Management. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe uncertainty since the start of the year has made it harder to manage retirement portfolios. But the worst thing you can do is constantly react. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engelbrecht advised sticking to one’s investment process and remembering that economies tend to recover, even from political turmoil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Eddy, head of investments at 10X Investments, agreed with Engelbrecht. \u201cFrom US-China relations to Trump\u2019s trade policies and court rulings, the volatility is high,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the key risks right now, the pair pointed to inflated US equity valuations, the weakening dollar, and political instability in major markets like the US. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eddy highlighted that US equities are in the 90th percentile of historical valuations, and the dollar is still expensive. Those factors suggest that future returns are likely to be muted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Locally, while South Africa faces fiscal pressure, high real interest rates offer an opportunity. \u201cYou can get inflation-plus-5% on local bonds,\u201d said Eddy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s extremely attractive, especially when you compare it to historical equity returns of inflation-plus-6.5% over 100 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this, experts agree that keeping most of your investment portfolio in such a small economy is not a good idea.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSouth Africa only makes up about 0.3% of global markets, so relying solely on it makes little sense,\u201d said Eddy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hedge against the rand <\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Chris Eddy, head of investments at 10X Investments (left), and Stefan Engelbrecht, portfolio manager for Mazi NexGen at Mazi Asset Management (right).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Engelbrecht agreed and said putting all your money in one small economy just isn\u2019t rational. \u201cDiversify across geographies, stick to your valuation metrics, and avoid flip-flopping between styles or reacting to headlines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that looking global doesn’t just mean defaulting to the US. Engelbrecht warned South Africans against overconcentration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor years, people thought global meant the US. However, real diversification means spreading risk across various geographies, including Europe, Asia, and emerging markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Efficient Group chief economist Dawie Roodt agreed and noted<\/a> that there are still many investable companies on the JSE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he stressed that investors should stick to highly liquid stocks that they can sell at short notice if needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said South Africans should invest in companies that provide a rand hedge to protect them from the currency’s depreciation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A rand hedge stock is a company listed in South Africa that earns a significant portion of its earnings outside the country in dollars, euros, or pounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples of these companies include Naspers, Prosus, Richemont, Anglo American, AB InBev, BHP Group, and Glencore, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roodt added that, with the South African rand weakening, investing in precious metals like gold, silver, and platinum is seen as a way to preserve wealth\u200b.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, the experts said that staying calm amid the noise is the best strategy during times of uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInvesting is simple, but it\u2019s not easy. Emotion is your enemy. Sometimes the best decision is to do nothing at all,\u201d said Engelbrecht.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBuild a well-diversified portfolio, manage risk wisely, and focus on your long-term goals. That\u2019s how you protect your wealth,\u201d Eddy added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amid uncertainty in global economies in 2025, experts stressed the importance of one strategy that all wealthy investors use to protect their investments. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":829020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11121],"tags":[11953,2562,10004,22931],"class_list":["post-829017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-10x-investments","tag-efficient-group","tag-henley-partners","tag-mazi-asset-management"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=829017"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":829055,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829017\/revisions\/829055"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/829020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=829017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=829017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=829017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}