Ignore the emotional rollercoaster in South Africa and keep investing abroad
A question I am sure we will hear more often now that things are turning for the better in SA is: why should I continue to take any of my money offshore when, firstly, things are improving here and, secondly, South Africans (especially corporates) have a dismal track record of investing abroad? The reason it has been so dismal is that South Africans typically expatriate their money when pessimism about SA is at its peak and repatriate their money when the consensus is overwhelmingly positive. Who can forget how much money was lost on global investments (in dollar terms) as the rand rose from a low of R12 to the dollar in 2001 to R6 by the end of 2004? At this point many people bought their rands back to SA and lost a second fortune on their domestic investments (again in dollar terms) as the rand subsequently weakened to R15 by the end of 2015. Rare is the person who is able to time the market with any success. More rare is one who is able to do this while investing in their spare t...
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