We develop innovative solutions to the initial needs complex of our clients, always thinking ahead and planning tailored long term financial planning solutions:

  • Holistic Financial Planning
  • Local & Offshore Investments
  • Retirement Planning
  • Preservation of Retirement Benefits
  • Post Retirement Investment Planning
  • Insurance (Life, Disability & Trauma)
  • Estate Planning (Wills and Trusts)
  • Stockbroking
  • Employee Benefits
  • Business Continuation

Holistic Financial Planning

Lack of thorough planning is leaving millions of families unprepared for financial downturns, personal emergencies, and retirement, and causes them to miss opportunities to increase their net worth. One approach that addresses these gaps is pursuing a holistic strategy encompassing all components of personal finance i.e., Tax Planning, Retirement Planning, Financial Protection planning in the event of disability, ill health or death and Investment Planning.

Holistic Financial Planning is a dynamic process, as needs and goals change, revisions should be made to the financial plan. Know where your money is going. One step is to know how much you are making and what you are spending, then adjust your budget to set aside money for emergency savings. Save for a rainy day because you never know when it may pour. An all-inclusive financial plan can improve the standard of life and build up happiness by lowering unpredictability about ensuing requirements and wealth.

Local And Offshore Investments

At ACS, we understand that your savings and investment journey will be like nobody else’s. Whether it is capital growth or a regular income, we have the experience and skills to help you put together an investment plan that is diverse to adjust for current and future needs. For this reason, it is important to ensure that our clients’ portfolios are well diversified into local as well as offshore funds where appropriate.

Our asset and portfolio management options include:

A suite of model portfolios or tailor-made solutions giving you access to leading South African and Global investment managers.

ACS’s portfolio management is based on your risk appetite and return requirements and these portfolios are actively managed by our Discretionary Fund Manager (SMMI).

Offshore investing can sound like a daunting experience. Investing offshore refers to a wide range of investment strategies that capitalise on advantages offered outside of an investor’s home country. On top of what you need to understand about a local investment, there are many more aspects to offshore investing. By investing in international markets, you gain access to countries with different currencies and economic cycles to ours, as well as asset classes and industries that are not locally available. An offshore investment can also be a great financial plan for possible future migration, or overseas studies. What we can confidently say is offshore investing plays an important role in terms of diversification and risk management.

There is no such thing as one-size-fits-all financial advice. Each person’s circumstances are different.

Retirement Planning

Time in retirement can be much harder to quantify than time until retirement. Retirement planning means preparing today for your future life so that you continue to meet all your goals and dreams independently. This includes setting your retirement goals, estimating the amount of money you will need, and investing to grow your retirement savings. The concept of an ‘ageing population’ may feel overused, but the fact is that advances in medicine and generally improving living standards are combining to increase how long we can expect to live. Every retirement plan is unique.

Retirement planning ensure you have a source of income when you retire, and ideally how to get access to some capital. We will use our expertise to help you understand your own personal situation, because only then can you start to talk about what you want and need to form your retirement goals.

Preservation Of Retirement Benefits

The primary purpose of a preservation fund is to house and preserve the proceeds of a pension or provident fund where a person has been retrenched or dismissed, or where he has resigned from his employ. A preservation fund exists to preserve your benefit until you retire.

In terms of legislation, only money from an approved retirement fund can be invested in a preservation fund which means that no other additional contributions can be made towards the fund.

Proceeds from pension and provident funds can be transferred to a preservation fund or a Retirement Annuity (RA).

While preserving your retirement benefits is always the preferred option, these are uncertain times, and many people may have no option but to withdraw their money in order to survive. Deciding what to do with your retirement benefits involves careful consideration, taking into account the tax implications, your short-, medium- and long-term needs, your investment horison, and your chances of re-employment in the near future. Different options are available when choosing which option will suit your financial needs best. At ACS we will take this into consideration when looking at the future ahead.

Post Retirement Investment Planning

With retirement being one of life’s most significant events, the act of formal retirement demands that several critical financial decisions be made, those nearing retirement cannot afford to leave anything to chance. When navigating the years/months that lead-up to retirement it is always important to formalise a checklist and understand the gravity of the decisions you are likely to be faced with. Some of the things to take into consideration when doing a retirement checklist:

  • Inventory of assets: Effective retirement planning requires that you take a holistic look at your portfolio to ensure that it is aligned with your goals and that your tax liabilities are minimised.
  • Planned Retirement date: Have a planned retirement date in mind but keep it flexible. Importantly, avoid making any decisions before you are absolutely sure that you can afford to retire.
  • Debt Elimination Plan: Make a list of the debt you have in place and develop a debt elimination plan to ensure that you can enter retirement debt-free.
  • Retirement Accommodation: your accommodation costs will likely remain the same if you continue staying in the family home but be sure to budget for an adjustment in living costs should you move to a retirement village or assisted living facility.
  • Post-Retirement Budget: make a list of those expenses that are likely to fall away when you retire, such as bond and car repayments, long-term insurance premiums and contributions towards your investments. Certain subscriptions and/or membership fees may reduce if you qualify for pensioner rates.
  • Joint Retirement Planning: If you and your spouse are nearing retirement, ensure that you are both on the same page when it comes to your vision of retirement.
  • Healthcare Plan: Budgeting for future healthcare costs is always difficult, but our advice is to take a conservative approach by assuming that medical costs will increase annually at a rate of inflation plus 4%.

Insurance (Life & Disability)

When starting your financial planning journey, the right way is critical to your future financial success. At first there may be little need for life cover – especially if you are single and do not have sizeable debt.

However, the risks of illness or disability, both of which can impact your ability to earn an income – either temporarily or permanently, should be mitigated using appropriately structured risk products. You may also want to consider putting an income protection benefit in place to ensure that your income is protected should you become temporarily or permanently disabled as a result of illness or accident. It is often therefore advisable to secure disability insurance while you are still relatively young and healthy, keeping in mind that many diseases and illnesses are a function of the ageing process. At ACS we will help you to understand the cover needed, i.e. life insurance, disability, income protection, key man and buy and sell.

Estate Planning (Wills and Trusts)

“Estate planning” is the exercise of testing the wishes in your Will against how reality will play out when you pass away. A Will forms a critical part of estate planning. It enables you to secure a legacy and literally prescribes how your wishes regarding your assets will be carried out after your death. It answers the question: “What happens to my estate (everything you’ve accumulated during your lifetime) when I die?”

Estate planning is especially important in the following instances:

  • you are married (or have been married multiple times);
  • have minor children or financial dependants;
  • own significant assets or have liabilities;
  • you are a business owner with obligations and sureties with financial institutions; and
  • have estates (investments/properties, etc.) in other countries.

Stockbroking

Stockbroking is a service which gives retail investors the opportunity to buy and sell equities. We have partnered with well know stockbrokers which enables our clients to hold direct share portfolios. This empowers us to assist clients by managing investments holistically in any form – unit trusts as well as direct share portfolios. Get a personalised experience growing your wealth together with a dedicated Portfolio Manager.