The best fund managers are not hard to find in SA
It is important to remember that JSE-listed firms have not been assembled to give investors a good spread of different global sectors, or even of SA’s economy
Whether an investment is actively or passively managed can be a distraction from whether it is well-managed. The best portfolio for most long-term investors is some kind of balanced (multi-asset) fund, with a level of risk most appropriate for their needs and temperament. There is no generic index that provides this; someone has to decide what percentage to invest in equities, bonds, cash and property and how much to place offshore. For the equities, someone needs to pick the individual shares, or to decide which index to follow. Someone decides the cap for individual investments (for example, including Naspers at its current index weight of more than 20% is a bold bet). For the offshore portion, which offshore investments are included makes a difference: there are many credible options, including index-based ones. Even if all of these choices are made mechanically ("passively"), they are real choices and they make a big difference to the outcome for an investor. "Passive" is often ...
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